#but at the end of the day. they’re both people deserving of love and respect

[nite-puff]

“mondo isn’t fit to be an ultimate. he’s too childish and doesn’t deserve the respect and credit he’s given.” YOU LITERALLY FELL FOR MONDO’S TRAP

the whole bit is that mondo does deserve his place as the gang’s leader. he does deserve that notoriety. he does deserve taka’s respect. because he’s good at what he does. he worked his ass off to get to that level. he literally started at the very bottom of the gang but climbed the ranks to the point that he was considered to be the leader’s equal. all in a very short span of time. that’s impressive as fuck.

daiya didn’t need to choose mondo to be his successor. but he did. because he recognized that mondo more than deserved it. and he was right. mondo went on to make the gang what it was, to the point that it became the largest in the country and mondo himself became the de facto leader of every other biker gang. he really was that popular in that culture.

the one person who thinks mondo doesn’t deserve any of that is mondo himself. and that’s brought to the forefront because junko knew that preying on that insecurity would get her the reaction out of him that she wanted. why do you think she worded his secret that way when mondo didn’t actually kill daiya?

mondo is a good, hardworking person. he just doesn’t think he is because (get this) he hates himself. people from his past made him believe he was worthless. so now he doesn’t listen to the people that tell him he’s worthy.

but at the end of the day. daiya wasn’t the ultimate biker gang leader. mondo was.

[im-so-normal-iswear]

Hey! Saw your requests are open. If you havent been overwhelmed eith asks I have one for Yandere Shadow if you're interested, if not you're fine!!

What about a Yandere Shadow and Sonic with an S/O who's extremely affectionate and overprotective? BUT, as a twist, They're this way with everyone they care about. They just have a lot of love to give❤️

(Bonus headcanon that Eggman targets them first in fights because his robots literally cant get anywhere near anyone else due to how protective they can be of others. They focus on others so much they forget they might also be targetted)

A/n: idk how long this was in my inbox for

Yandere Shadow/Sonic x Overprotective, Affectionate Reader

Shadow:

Shadow isn't used to the kind of affection you give, not from anyone. He wasnt quite used to affection to mych at all. Not after Maria at least.

You're the type to wrap your arms around people in your life without a second thought, ruffle their hair, or reassure them with kind words whenever they’re feeling down.

At first, he thought this affection was only for him. The way you’d stand beside him in fights, ready to shield him from harm despite your lack of superhuman abilities, left him both confused and, strangely, touched.

But then, Shadow began to notice a pattern.

You weren't just protective of him. You were protective of everyone you cared about. Whether it was Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, or even strangers in trouble, you'd throw yourself into the way to ensure no one got hurt.

Your willingness to put others first was respectable, but it also infuriated Shadow.

Didn’t you realize how reckless it was? Did you think anyone else deserved your warmth and care the way he did?

Shadow tried to reason with himself. He knew your affection was genuine and that your overprotective tendencies came from a place of love.

Still, that jealousy in his chest clawed at him every time he watched you worry and fuss over someone else.

His thoughts turned darker as he began to wonder if maybe he needed to teach you to focus that energy solely on him...

It wasn’t unusual for Eggman to target the people Shadow cared about, but this time, Eggman targeted you first.

Shadow’s blood boiled when he realized why. Your protective nature made you an obstacle to Eggman’s plans, your sheer determination to shield others from harm meant that his robots couldn’t get anywhere near his intended targets. And worse, your focus on others left you vulnerable.

Shadow was livid. Not at you, but at the world. How dare anyone put you in danger?

You were so busy worrying about others that you forgot to worry about yourself. He decided right then and there that he'd do whatever it took to keep you safe, even if that meant keeping you away from everyone else.

In the days that followed, Shadow became even more possessive. He started hovering closer during battles, stepping in before you had the chance to protect someone else. If you tried to shield Sonic or Tails, Shadow would pull you back with a firm grip, glaring at whoever dared to draw your attention.

"You can't keep doing this," he’d say in a stern voice. "You're going to get yourself hurt. Let me handle it."

At home, Shadow became even clingier. He didn't like how much energy you gave to others, so he made it his mission to monopolize your time.

Every moment spent with him was another moment you couldn’t be out there, being with someone else.

Still, he couldn't completely suppress his jealousy. The way you’d light up when hugging someone else made his fists clench.

Your constant reassurances that you had enough love to go around only made him more determined to make you see that he deserved all of it.

"Why do you waste your time on people who can’t protect themselves? They donct deserve what you give them. I'm the one who'll keep you safe, not them"

Sonic:

Sonic's usually not the biggest fan on being the receiving end of affection, but when it comes to you, he loves it. In fact, he thrives on it.

You're always ready with a hug, a playful nudge, or words of encouragement that make his heart race faster than his feet.

At first, he thought you were just that way with him, and he basked in the attention.

But Sonic quickly realized that you didn’t just have love for him. You had love for everyone.

You'd throw yourself in front of Tails to block an incoming attack, fuss over Amy if she got a scratch, or rush to Knuckles aid whenever he bit off more than he could chew.

Your boundless compassion for others left Sonic respecting you even more, but it also left him feeling insecure.

As confident as Sonic was in his abilities, he couldn’t shake the fear that someone else might steal your affection.

He wanted to be the one you turned to, the one you prioritized above all else. But your overprotective tendencies meant that you focused on everyone equally, leaving Sonic craving more of your attention.

Then came the day Eggman decided to target you.

It wasn’t hard to see why. You were a force of nature in your own way, your determination to protect others made you a threat to Eggman’s plans. Sonic’s heart dropped when he realized that Eggman saw you as a liability.

The first time one of Eggman’s robots aimed directly for you, Sonic barely managed to stop the attack in time.

"Hey, what were you thinking?!" he scolded, his voice tinged with panic. "You can't keep throwing yourself in the line of fire like that!"

You brushed off his concerns, he did that stuff all the time, why was it any different?

Sonic wanted to argue, but he couldn't bring himself to. Still, he made a silent vow to protect you, even if it meant protecting you from yourself.

Sonic's jealousy is more subtle than Shadow’s, have to keep up the 'perfect hero' act. He'd crack jokes whenever you doted on someone else, masking his unease with humor. But if someone started to take over your time, Sonic wouldn’t hesitate to intervene, dragging you away with some flimsy excuse.

Despite his possessiveness, Sonic would never stop loving your affectionate nature. It's part of what makes you, you. But he’d do everything in his power to ensure that your love didn’t come at the cost of your safety, even if it meant keeping you closer than you’d like.

[honeyedfate]

loverboy | 심재윤

pairing. jake sim x idol!gf!reader

jake is in love. completely smitten. and anyone in his immediate vicinity knows it. they also know that jake is an incredibly caring and thoughtful boyfriend and that he’d do anything for you. which makes it all the more frustrating when both of your fans believe that you can barely stand each other. they even have proof.

genre. fluff

a/n: wishing everyone a happy new year! may 2025 be kind to all of us x

[ › second part ][ › third part ]

jake is not a lover boy. he knows that. he’s never been overly well-versed in romance and he never pretended to be. nonetheless, he believes that there is a pertinent distinction to be made between being a hopeless romantic and being a good boyfriend.

the latter is what he strives for every day of his life. if romance is a language then it might not be his native tongue but, damn it, he works tirelessly to be fluent in it. he wears the title of being a good boyfriend like it’s a polished badge of honour, not expecting anything in return but solely doing it because he believes you don’t deserve anything less (and because he’s hopelessly in love, but that’s besides the point).

so how he ends up in this deeply offensive predicament is a mystery to him. he will lose sleep over it and will continue to do so until it’s resolved, which is seemingly why he’s sat in a meeting room at the company building, nervously spinning his chair while sneaking glances at you.

if he’s a nervous wreck then you’re the embodiment of a peace sign. he is simply in awe at how you’re this unperturbed by the presence of your managers, a pr team, a higher executive, and jungwon and chaewon. to say he was equal parts surprised and confused when he first walked into this room is an understatement.

it was exacerbated once you entered the room as well, looking just as puzzled and uninformed by this meeting as he was. you sat a respectable distance away from him, yet your presence still calmed jake down.

until it didn’t.

alarm bells slowly started ringing once he looked around the room. the bells were practically blaring when yuki said, “jake, as your manager and your friend you know that i only want what’s best for you. you know that. and y/n, you’ve been spending enough time with us to know that i’m fond of you, i think you’re a good kid. i care for both of you, which is the only reason why i’m asking you this.” he hesitated a little, taking a deep breath. “are you two dating?”

the silence was loud.

neither of you dared to glance at each other. an eternity must’ve passed until chaewon cleared her throat and said in a calm, steady voice, “it’s okay, guys. really.”

jake glanced at jungwon who was nodding eagerly. that was when you caught jake’s eye and he immediately knew you wanted to tell them. you had both talked about this before, letting him know that you wouldn’t mind if the company knew. you also knew that jake had his hesitations.

just telling the guys and knowing that you had told the girls nearly gave him heart palpitations. and it’s not because he’s distrustful, he just really values his privacy and keeping your relationship private felt like the right thing to do. thus, revealing it to the people presently sat in front him felt like a violation to his own peace of mind, but you both nodded and so it was out.

the response was nothing he could’ve expected. ever. because they looked… relieved? they actually looked quite happy. both of your managers had loosened a breath while the pr team had cracked tiny smiles or were trying very hard not to.

“what’s going on?” you said with a frown, having picked up on it too. chaewon gave a small laugh.

“well,” said the pr woman in a blue top. she picked up a black remote and pointed it at the beamer on the ceiling to turn it on. “recently, you two have been quite the talk on the internet. it seems that both of your fans think you hate each other. they’re actually pretty certain.”

and so, for the next twenty minutes jake and you were presented with a slideshow involving various headlines, articles, comments, posts, and video compilations from different social media platforms that had jake and you gasping in rotation.

“this one’s just dumb!” jake sputters, waving at the screen. “they’re saying i pushed her to the floor because she was dancing in her seat? why would i do that? she was sitting on the other side of the row, how could i have seen her!”

“maybe you sensed it and it really pissed you off.” you snort, holding up a folder filled with social media comments. “someone said i must despise your whole being because you’re introverted and i apparently have a personal vendetta against your people.”

“my people are your people! you’re an introvert too.” jake sounds desperate now. “where are they getting this from? all of these are so obviously a reach, come on.”

jake takes the folder out of your hands when he sees you giggling over a comment, prompting you to pout playfully. he pokes your side.

“you see…” jungwon speaks up, shaking his hair out of his eyes and clearly planning to beat around the bush. “is it though? not really. that obvious, i mean.”

chaewon hums in agreement. “i mean, i know you guys are in love, but there have been too many incidents that have caught people’s attention. it just can’t be a coincidence anymore, jake. the compilation is 30 minutes long, you know.” she looks at you and him carefully.

jake is beside himself. “you mean to tell me i pushed my girlfriend to the floor intentionally?”

“no, of course not,” says yuki with wide eyes, “we know you couldn’t hurt a fly if you wanted to, but, it’s just, well, how else did it happen? you mean to tell me y/n coincidentally fell against your arm when she walked past?”

“i’m just clumsy, guys.” you say quickly, moving your own chair closer to jake’s and bumping your legs against his in the process. “i was just walking down to my seat when he moved his arm because he was pointing at something. he didn’t even see me.”

“and when you were sitting on the floor right in front of him after the whole venue saw you fall, he also didn’t see you, right? him looking straight into your eyes and not moving a finger, so that a member from boynextdoor had to help you up also doesn’t have to mean anything, right?” grey sweater guy from pr chimes in, sounding amused and curious and very punchable (to jake, at least).

“yeah, what was that about?” jungwon says in a low voice as if everyone in the room had suddenly developed hearing issues.

“or when you went out of your way to pour champagne on her at the prada afterparty?” blue top woman adds unhelpfully.

your manager winces like it’s a traumatic experience that happened to him. “there was also that one time when fans saw you hiding all of the vogue covers with y/n on them behind a bunch of other magazines at a bookstore.”

“or when y/n handed you flowers on music bank when we won and you gave them back. on camera.” jungwon snickers.

“okay!” jake lets himself fall back against his chair, feeling absolutely defeated. “i can’t believe that’s how people perceived all of this. that’s…god, i don’t even know, but i can explain.”

“please do,” you say in a teasing tone, “because i am also starting to think you might actually secretly hate me.”

“what—” jake leans towards you abruptly, searching your eyes and you can’t help but laugh.

“i’m just joking.”

“get better jokes,” he grumbles, pouting, before letting out a long sigh when he sees everyone staring at him expectantly. “i don’t even know where to begin.”

“start with the magazines,” you say.

“oh, those...” he scratches the back of his head. “i was at a bookstore when i saw the covers on display and i just felt really proud, i mean you looked beautiful and it was a cool concept. so i took some pictures on my phone and when it suddenly changed to the front camera, i could see two girls looking at me from behind. i panicked and didn’t know what to do, so i quickly shoved the magazines behind some others hoping they didn’t see me take the photos.”

“they didn’t,” grey sweater guy confirms. “they only saw you hide them.”

jake nods. “yes, and at the prada afterparty, i just… i didn’t saw anyone filming us, so i thought it’d be safe to bring my girlfriend a drink. i was being subtle, but when i turned around, she was standing a lot closer than expected and i bumped into her. the whole drink just kind of spilled over and that’s when i saw the phones filming us.”

jake glances at you sheepishly, but you simply smile reassuringly, knowing that it was just an accident and he had apologised profusely that night. it was never that big of a deal to you anyway, knowing no one was mad that the dress had been ruined. reaching over under the table, you interlace your fingers with his and draw small circles on the back of his hand with your thumb, hoping it signals to him exactly that.

he goes on to say, “i also didn’t mean to push her at the AAA awards. it was all an accident and it happened so quickly that when i looked down and saw y/n there, i just froze. i couldn’t believe what had happened and also…” he clears his throat. “she just looked really pretty, like she was wearing that dress and her hair looked so—erm, yea, anyway. i malfunctioned.”

jungwon gives a small laugh, shoving jake’s shoulder as chaewon coos. you try to hide your grin when you see how red his ears are and fail miserably, but jake mirrors it, so you don’t feel too bad about it.

“and the flowers, oh my god, i don’t know why i did that.” jake groans like the memory still haunts him. “i just saw the bouquet and my brain went oh, flowers! i need to give them to y/n so i did. like an idiot. and i obviously couldn’t snatch them back when heeseung asked why i did that. it was embarrassing.”

the whole room erupts in laughter and you lay your head on his shoulder, saying, “it was cute.”

jake grunts something incoherent, but wraps an arm around your waist anyway, pulling you closer.

“you know,” the higher executive finally speaks up, still laughing. “it’s extremely relieving that you two don’t hat each other because your fans were really turning this into a battlefield. this, however, is much easier to manage knowing you are both willing to cooperate.”

jake and you exchange a look. “what do you mean cooperate?”

“cooperate in what?” you add on.

the pr team pulls out another stack of folders, each of them tabbed and colour coordinated. “we have a plan.”

grey sweater guy starts another presentation, revealing the first slide which says in bold, capital letters OPERATION: NO HATE, JUST DATE.

your jaw hits the floor. jake inhales sharply and says under his breath, “no way.”

next to him, jungwon grins, enjoying himself a little too much.

“this will be so much fun, guys!”

[ second part › operation: no hate, just date ]

[fandomhopped]

first love/late spring

pairing: fwb!logan howlett x fem!reader; 2nd person pov

summary: logan and reader have been sleeping together for a while with an unspoken rule to keep it casual, but that goes to hell when logan catches feelings. however, reader is an independent boss bitch and hates men<3

warnings: heavy swearing, hella mentions of sexual situations, substance abuse, brief sexual content(nothing serious fr), creepy guy in a bar, blood, bar fight, mentions of sex trafficking and resulting trauma, daddy issues, fluff, angst asf, lowkey scott slander (i dont mean it i love him)

word count: 9.1k

a/n: reader has light manipulation abilities but theyre not mentioned that often lol, also reader takes a lotta shots at jean just cuz she pisses me off. side note: idk the true meaning of the song i used as the title, there are many different interpretations. i found the song after i had alr written the story and the lyrics resonated pls don’t jump down my throat if it doesn’t align <3

there’s not a millimeter of space between you and logan as he holds you against his body. you’re sleeping soundly, and he watches you breathe all night, not bothering to even think about sleep for himself. the sun came up three hours ago, he felt it on his back.

when you drink, you always wake up early the next morning. you two drank a lot together last night. and like every time you drink with logan, you ended up in his bed.

he tries to block the sun from your face with his body so it won’t wake you up. he knows when you finally do, this little illusion that you're his will all be over. everything you said last night won’t matter. you’ll go back to your room. he’ll stay in bed. you’ll both go back to acting like it never happened.

you always leave him swiftly. you always go downstairs and drink coffee from the same mug and act like nothing happened. without a stutter, it’s a routine.

since he moved into the mansion, he wasn’t ignorant to the fact that the female teachers were attractive. and, of course, he was first drawn to jean. he won’t deny that he still harbored some feelings for her when you came to his room all those months ago, but she made it abundantly clear that she loves scott.

then one night, you slipped a bottle of whiskey into the mansion and invited him to join you in drinking it. you said some things that made him sit closer to you. that was just the beginning. he woke up the next morning to an empty bed but distinctly remembers you falling asleep next to him, so he assumed you woke up and left.

logan is a pro at acting like some things never happen, but he wasn’t expecting you to act the same. he dismissed it as a one-off, drunken night.

then it happened again… and again and again, and you continued to act like it never happened.

which, he was fine with. this wouldn’t be the first time he’s had a with-benefits situation, but there’s something different about you. you’re badass. you’re beautiful. he really respects you. you fit him perfectly.

and you’re mean. you don’t smile all that much, really only when you’re drinking is what logan soon found out. you’re not always outright mean to people, it’s usually deserved. you don’t take anybody’s shit. you’ll let people know when they’re in the wrong or they’re pissing you off. you’re sarcastic and rudely witty.

that was just another thing that attracted him to you. but, God, were you the meanest in the mornings, especially when you’re hungover.

unfortunately for logan, he has developed a small, tiny, itty bitty, barely-there crush on you. just catching a scent of your perfume has him rolling his eyes in the back of his head and white-knuckling whatever is directly in front of him.

the thoughts of you under him, on top of him, in front of him, on your knees for him plague his mind all. day. long. then last night, you had him rock solid from just a few drunken words.

“you’ve ruined all men for me,” you said as he kissed down your neck.

“hmm?” he hummed as his hands roamed your body under your shirt.

“nobody could ever fuck me like you do,” you told him, pulling at his hair roughly. he lets out a deep groan at the feeling.

he’s never picked up his pace of getting someone’s clothes off so quickly. he ripped your favorite pair of pj shorts in the process, mumbling that he’ll buy you a new pair.

with him deeply inside you, one hand wrapped around your throat and the other sending you over the edge with his mouth leaving marks all over your chest, you say breathily, “fuck, you’re perfect for me.”

the moment hasn’t left his mind since.

“i’m hot,” you mutter, pushing the sheets from your legs. “you’re hot.”

“oh, yeah?” he whispers in your ear, his lips turned up.

“i’m about to have a heat stroke,” you return, squirming around and shoving his arms from around you.

he lets go of you and gives you some space, lying on his back and staring at the ceiling. a deep sigh leaves him.

“i’m gonna throw up,” you tell him, groaning and curling up into the fetal position.

“are you serious? don’t puke in my bed,” he says, leaning up to look at you.

you roll your eyes. “no, i’m not serious,” you snap at him.

“‘you wanna take a shower?” he asks, his lip curling up at the thought of you ruining his sheets (and not in the way he usually prefers).

“i feel like shit right now, logan. i don’t want to fuck you in the shower,” you tell him roughly, sitting up and glaring over at him.

he watches you stand up out of his bed and put yout shirt on. “‘s not what i meant,” he grumbles, looking away from her. he throws the sheets off his body and grabs his jeans from the night before.

he runs his hands down his face and then looks up only to see the door closing behind you as you leave him. again.

“whew, late night?” ororo asks you as soon as you walk into the kitchen, changed into some presentable clothes rather than the ripped shorts and oversized tshirt you walked back to your room in.

you ignore the woman as you open the cabinet to grab your mug. the same one you use every morning.

but it’s not there.

“where’s my mug?” you ask, glancing around the kitchen to see it’s not just ororo but also jean and scott there.

“is this yours?” scott asks, holding up the mug in his hand.

your gaze darkens. “yes,” she grits out, tightening her jaw.

“that’s my bad. i didn’t know this was yours,” he says, standing up and walking over to the sink. “i’ll wash it and you can use it.”

you feel your skin crawl as he turns on the hot water. “stop,” you say lowly, walking to him and turning off the water. “you can’t—.” you stop yourself as you breathe heavily. you rip the cup from his hands.

“hey, it’s just a mug,” ororo says to you, “what’s up?”

“it’s not—,” you cut yourself off again and take a deep breath, shaking your head. you turn on the cold water from the sink and carefully wash the mug.

“seriously, what’s going on with you?” jean asks as scott rejoins her side.

you roll your neck. “i’ve been here for years, and you don’t know which one is my mug?” you ask scott, not looking anywhere but your mug until you’re sure it’s clean.

“i never noticed before, ‘sorry,” he says then turns to jean with a shrug.

the light beaming in through the window shines a little brighter as you continue to shake your head, muttering things under your breath that the others can’t make out.

“it really is just a mug,” ororo says carefully, looking over your figure in concern.

“except it’s not,” you retort, attentively drying off the ceramic with a towel. you then pour some coffee into the mug and hold it close to your chest, turning back to the other mutants.

“what—,” jean begins but logan walks into the kitchen just as she starts and she stops herself.

her surveys everyone’s demeanor then looks at you. “what’s wrong with you?” he asks, walking to the cabinet and grabbing whichever cup is closest to his hand when he reaches in. he pours himself some coffee and turns back to them expectantly.

“scott was using my mug,” you tell him, leaning against the counter.

“why?” he asks scott, eyeing the man.

“to drink coffee. why does it matter?” he asks in return, scoffing.

“it’s hers,” logan returns, his stare hardens and he looks at scott like he’s an idiot.

ororo laughs humorlessly. “what does that mean? it’s just a mug,” she asks, looking between you.

you glare at her. “it was my father’s and now it’s mine.”

“the same father that sold you?” jean asks, her face contorting. you shift your weight uncomfortably. “why would you want that?”

“why don’t you just back the fuck off, bitch?” you snap at her, stepping toward her.

“woah, girl, calm down,” ororo intervenes, holding her hand toward you like you’re a wild animal. you scoff. “we get it. it’s special to you. that’s all you had to say.”

you roll your eyes at them. you leave the group and return to your room. logan watches you go then turns back to the others with his eyebrows raised. “did you say sold her?” he asks jean.

“when he found out she was a mutant—,” she begins.

“jean,” ororo interrupts her, shaking her head at the girl.

jean continues, “—her father sold her into a mutant sex trafficking ring,” she reveals, looking only at logan, “that’s where we found her and then brought her here.”

his face contorts, and he looks down into his coffee. “shit,” he comments.

“she doesn’t talk about it to anybody, and, out of respect, we don’t talk about it either,” ororo says pointedly at the telepath.

logan is seething all day over the new information. he hates to think you went through that for God knows how long.

after the incident, logan doesn’t see you for a while. he doesn’t know how. you’re a teacher and you live down the hall from him, yet he still doesn’t even catch a whiff of your perfume.

“logan, meet me in my office,” he hears charles’ voice in his head. he obeys and within a minute, he’s standing before the professor. “you should leave her alone for a bit.”

her brow furrows. “come again?”

charles says your name and logan clenches his jaw. “she’s destructive right now. you should let her be.”

“is she okay?” the wolverine asks, concern growing in his stomach, and it makes him feel sick.

“she’ll be just fine. this happens from time to time,” he tells him, pressing his lips into a thin line. “you know of her circumstances.”

“her circumstances?” logan growls, scowling down at the old man, “you knew what she went through and didn’t think to tell me? you know what’s going on between us and didn’t think maybe i needed to know that? what if she had a breakdown when we were together? i wouldn’t have known what was happening.”

charles’ lips turn down into a small frown. “that’s not my information to tell.”

logan storms off in a huff, muttering under his breath.

that friday, he’s smoking a cigar in his bed, looking out the window at the moon, which is shining rather bright tonight. he hears a few quiet knocks on his door. he opens the door, expecting it to be a student.

“hey,” you say, waving a bottle of jack in his face before pushing past him into the room. “'hope you don’t mind, i got started without you.”

“you always do,” he comments, closing the door, putting out the cigar, and following you to sit on his bed. “listen —.”

“i think i like that vodka more than this. this one makes my mouth taste weird,” you tell him, taking another sip out of the bottle before handing it to him.

he holds it and sighs. “look, we should—.”

“—take our clothes off?” you finish his sentence, smiling darkly at him. “i mean, it’s a little early, but i agree.”

“that’s not what i—.”

“—was going to say?” you guess his words, cutting him off again. “look at us finishing each other’s…” you trail off, looking at him expectantly. he sends you a deadpanned glance. “this is the part where you say ‘sentences.’ i think i’m better at this game than you are.”

he takes a long sip from the bottle before he looks at you. “can you be serious for a second?” he asks.

you scoff and take the bottle from his hands. “i don’t come to you like this to be serious, logan,” you say, putting the whiskey to your lips again.

“why do you come to me at all?” he asks quietly and gruffly.

you take another sip and place the bottle on the floor, scooting closer to him. “because you’re hot,” you say in a sultry voice, putting a hand on his thigh and slowly dragging it up, “and you call me ‘princess’ and ‘darling’,” you continue, reaching for his belt buckle. he doesn’t do anything to stop you, “and your hands.” you push the buckle out the way and unbutton his pants, dragging down the zipper slowly. “and your tongue.” you reach your hand into his pants. “and this.”

he breathes heavily, completely lost in the euphoria that is you.

he forces himself to snap out of him and shakes his head. he pushes your hand away and stands up, taking a few steps away.

“what’s wrong?” you ask him, grabbing the bottle and standing also. “do you need some more?” you ask, holding the drink out for him, confusion written all over your face.

he holds his hands out in front of him as if to deny the offer. “it’s…,” he trails off, pushing a deep breath through his nose.

your shoulders drop along your face. you tilt your head in disbelief. “oh, my fuck. they told you,” you conclude. you turn around and sit back down on the bed. he stays silent, just looking at you. “okay, so what now? you don’t want me anymore ‘cause i’m used up?” you ask, slurring your words a little.

“no,” he denies without hesitation.

your sober personality is back even though you’re still drinking the whiskey like you’ve been in the dry desert for weeks without water.

“then what is it, logan? you don’t wanna do this ‘cause my hair isn’t blood red?” you ask next, raising your brow and looking at him expectantly.

his face contorts. “what’re you talking about?” he asks gruffly.

you chuckle at him. “i’m not a fucking idiot, old man. i know you want jean so bad, but she doesn’t want you so i'm second choice” you say, then you shrug with one shoulder. “i’d’a gone with ororo, to be honest. have you seen her? i’d show her a good time,” you add.

“that’s not what this is,” he tells you, taking a step forward but not within arm's length of you.

“then what is it? just fucking tell me,” you say loudly, the room lights up as the moon shines brighter. “d’you want me to tell you ‘bout how i was a good, little daddy’s girl until i almost blinded my brother when i first got my powers? how about how my dad gave me away like he didn’t love me? d’you want me to cry in your arms about how i was passed around by mean men like a blunt when i was 14? why do you think i can only let you fuck me when i’m drunk?” you ask him sarcastically, but your voice breaks on your last words. you let out an unsteady breath. logan watches you cautiously, unsure of what to do. “is that what you want, logan?! you wanna be the big, strong man here?!” you ask him, crying now as you yell at the man in front of you.

your body slumps forward as you let the tears drop from your eyes, and you grip the bottle in your hands like a lifeline. you feel the bed dip beside you and the bottle pulled from your hands. you move your hands to your face, trying to pull yourself together.

you feel his big arms envelope you and pull you into his chest. that’s when the waterworks really break out.

logan’s never been to best with tears. he hasn’t had to deal with them too much, but his first instinct was to hold you as close as you would let him. he hates to see you like this. in all honesty, he wants to hunt down every man that ever put a finger on you and rip them to shreds. but, for now, he’ll hold you. as long as you would let him.

you wake up with araging headache. you’re hot, burning up, actually. you kick the blankets from your legs and turn over in the arms of the incredibly attractive man in bed next to you. you look at his sleeping face and sigh.

this is the part where you leave, but this time, you just snuggle into his chest and fall back asleep.

logan wakes up later than he usually does after nights like the last one. it’s normally the sound of the door closing wakes him up. but, this time, he sees your cute face smushed against his pec. he doesn’t fight the smile on his face.

you stir quickly after he wakes up. you rub your eyes and look around the room, then to logan. “i’m gonna puke,” you tell him, the remnants of the smile fall from his face. you pull away from him as your face blanches. “seriously,” you add and sit up quickly.

he reaches for the trash can beside his bed and holds it in front of you just in time. he holds your hair back with a look of absolute disgust while you clutch the bin close to your face and your body jerks with each gag.

once you're done, you wipe your mouth with the bottom of your shirt. you groan loudly and stand up from the bed. “i’m gonna take this with me,” you tell him, holding the can in your arms and moving toward the door.

“keep it,” he remarks, his lip curled up.

monday morning rolls around quicker than anybody wants. you walk into the kitchen and grab your mug, pouring coffee and looking around at others in the kitchen.

they’re talking amongst themselves, mentions of grading papers and some stupid answer a kid put as their answer on an assignment.

you just listen and sip your coffee peacefully. that is, until logan walks in. you move from in front of the coffee pot for him to get some. he nods in thanks as he joins your side.

“this coffee is awful,” you comment, pouring it out in the sink next to you. he chuckles at your comment but doesn’t say anything. “scott, did you make the coffee this morning?” you ask him. the three look over to you, almost as if they didn’t see you come in.

“yeah,” he answers.

“don’t do it again,” you tell him, filling the mug with water and leaving the kitchen.

as you watch a group of students take a test, you see logan walk back in his jacket he usually only wears when leaving campus.

“hey,” you call out. all the students look up at you. “keep taking your tests. i’m going to the hallway for a second,” you tell them and move into the hallway. “logan,” you call and he turns around, walking back toward you. “where are you going?”

“to pick up some more cigars,” he answers, gesturing over his shoulder.

“will you pick me up a pack of cigarettes?” you ask him, reaching into your pocket for some money.

his brow furrows. “you smoke?” he asks.

“sometimes, yeah,” you reply, handing him $20.

he shakes his head. “i’ll cover it,” he answers.

“thanks,” you reply, placing a hand on his forearm before returning to your classroom.

he looks down to his arm and blinks. that’s new.

“brad, i know you’re not talking during a test. are you begging for a failing grade?” he hears you say before he turns back toward the front door of the mansion.

logan returns a while later, after the school day is over and the students are training. he finds you in your classroom, grading papers.

“hey,” he greets. you look up at him.

“hey,” you return, eyes dancing all over his body.

“these are for you,” he says, holding out the page of cigarettes.

“right, thanks,” you say and reach for them, your fingers brushing his as you grab them.

“‘you need any help?” he asks, looking at the papers before you.

“do you know anything about math?” you ask him, pursing your lips.

“uh, no,” he answers, shaking his head. “don’t you have an answer key or something?”

“i have to check their work to make sure they didn’t just get the answer from the person beside them,” you reply, looking back down to the papers. “some of these kids are dumbasses.”

he chuckles. “no kid wants to do math,” he comments.

“how would you know? weren’t you born before there were schools?” you ask him without looking up. there’s a beat of silence before you eventually glance up at him. “was that insensitive?” you ask instead.

he just shrugs. “i’m not that old,” he says, sitting in the desk in front of yours.

“sure,” you respond and go back to grading.

the two of you sit in without a word as you grade, and he watches you in complete admiration. after a while, he stands up and walks toward the door.

“you’re leaving?” you question.

“‘didn’t think you wanted your room smelling like cigars,” he replies.

“i’ll join you,” you say, grabbing the pack he bought you and putting the tests in a drawer. he doesn’t object and you two walk outside, to a bench in the gardens, away from the students.

the two of you sit in silence as you inhale smoke and slowly release it from your lungs.

“i’ve never seen you smoke before,” he comments after a while.

“i only smoke when i give up drinking, i only drink when i give up smoking,” you answer, tossing the burnt cigarette onto the ground and stepping on it, then picking another one from the pack.

you pick up your lighter and flick it a few times but it won’t light. you put your head and lighter inside your shirt to block the wind, trying again and failing again.

“motherfucker,” you mutter as you try to cover the lighter.

“here,” he offers his lighter with the fire shining brightly above it. with the cigarette between your lips, lean toward the lighter, looking up into his eyes as you do. he meets your eyes and clears his throat, closing the flame into the top of the lighter and shifting his eyes to the cigar between his fingers. you let a small smile rest on your face afterward.

“so you’re not drinking anymore?” he asks you.

“figured i should go on a sobriety cleanse for a bit,” you reply, “‘t’s probably for the best.”

“probably,” he adds and silence takes over again.

he glances over at her for a second and he sees you bite at the skin of your bottom lip the way you always do when you’re thinking, contemplating. he’s tempted to ask what’s on your mind but before he can break the silence, you let out a hard sigh.

“i don’t apologize for things,” you begin and pause, biting at your lip again.

“okay…?”

“i don’t apologize for my actions or words because i stand by every decision i make,” you continue and pause again. he’s looking at you and you’re looking directly ahead of you. “i’m not good at apologizing,” you sigh again, “but i’m…sorry for some of the things i said the other night. there’s no excuse. i apologize. take that how you will.”

“you don’t have to apologize,” he replies.

you huff. “so i just said all that for nothing? you could at least accept the damn apology,” she snaps at him then rubs the crease between her eyebrows out.

“you called me an old man. i don’t know if i want to accept your apology,” he teases with a crooked smile. you send him a look that turns into a hint of a smile before turning your head away.

“i need to get back to grading those tests. i’ll see you later, logan.” you stomp out another cigarette and stand up from the bench.

“see ya, sweetheart,” he says lowly but you still hear it.

as you look over tests, ororo enters your classroom. “ooh, what’s got you all smiley?” she asks as she strolls in.

the previous smile you didn’t even realize you were wearing falls when you look up at the mutant. “huh?”

“don’t try to deny it. i saw that smile,” she says teasingly. you just roll your eyes lightheartedly. ororo’s brow furrows as she sniffs the air. “are you smoking again?”

“yeah, i quit drinking,” you answer, “what’s up?”

“i was coming in here to ask you if you wanted to go out with the rest of us friday night. we’re planning on going that bar we always go to,” she says, “but if you’re not drinking, i don’t wanna make you go.”

“yeah, no. that’s okay,” you decline the offer.

“alright, if you change your mind, you’re welcome to join us. sober or not,” she adds before leaving out.

the week drags on painfully slow. it’s a week of tests and starting new units in all your classes and you really just want to bang your head against a wall and tell the kids class is canceled.

by the end of it, you actually do want to join your colleagues in going out to that bar in town that they love so much. you offer to be the designated driver, not trusting anyone but yourself to drive you anywhere.

“are you going with us to the bar?” you ask logan as he rummages around the cabinets for something to eat.

“no,” he answers, opening the fridge, “are you?”

“yeah, i’m driving,” you tell him. there’s a beat of silence before you add, “you should come.”

he turns toward you at your words with a crooked smile. “oh yeah?” he questions, “why? ‘you want me there?”

you scoff with no heat behind it. “i was just trying to be nice,” you say.

“you? nice?” he asks, raising his eyebrows in disbelief.

“what? you don’t think i’m nice?” you ask him defensively, crossing your arms.

“no,” he replies, not skipping a beat.

“i’m very nice,” you counter.

“no, you’re not,” he denies again, also crossing his arms.

in his white beater, crossing his arms makes his arms flex and you can’t help but let your eyes wander to the veins of his biceps.

“you have nice hair. there, nice,” you compliment, then add right after, “you’re not balding or anything, which is quite common for men your age.”

“you’re not good at this,” he tells you, looking at your plate to see what you're eating.

“do you want some?” you ask him. you hold your plate across the counter for him to pick off of. he grabs one of your chips and eats it.

“thanks,” he mutters.

“look at me being nice,” you comment and he chuckles deeply.

“shut up,” he returns playfully.

the five of you go to the bar that night, logan joining at your request. he sits at the bar, ordering drink after drink and scanning the bar every so often to make sure you’re alright.

you spend most of your time at ororo’s side. before long, you’re accompanied by a couple of men. you and ororo share side-eyes as they continue to tell stupid jokes. ororo excuses the both of you to go to the bathroom only to move next to logan at the bar.

“having fun?” he asks sarcastically, looking at you then glancing to ororo.

“they could’ve at least been funny, but they weren’t. there terribly unfunny,” you tell him, sitting next to him on a barstool and ororo laughs.

“yeah, that was awful,” she comments and sips her drink. “oh, i see jean and scott. i’ll be back later.” she leaves the two of you. you order a club soda and turn to logan, who is hunched over his drink.

“you have really bad posture,” you tell him as the bartender hands you your drink. he just shrugs and refills his glass with the bottle the bartender left in front of him. you dig your finger into his spine and he straightens up, looking at you wildly.

“why?” is all he asks.

“it’ll help you look more presentable. you’re not looking for anybody tonight?” you ask and glance around the bar for women.

“no, i’m not,” he answers and slumps back down. you dig your finger into his back again and he looks down at you. “stop,” he says seriously.

“oh, what’re you gonna do? stab me?” she asks him challengingly. he looks back down to his drink and shakes his head dismissively. “oh, come on. you’re good-looking, you’re good in bed, you’ve got this hot, animalistic thing going on. why not look for somebody?”

“‘cause i don’t want anybody,” he answers. “did you say i’m good in bed?”

“well, yeah,” you confirm with a one-shouldered shrug.

he stares at you for a beat. this is the first time you’ve ever mentioned it before. you don’t talk about the things you two have done. ever.

“i would know,” you add after he stays quiet.

“you would know what?” ororo asks as she rejoins you, along with scott and jean. they all stand directly behind the man, looking at you expectantly. logan’s waiting for you to make up a lie.

“that logan’s good in bed,” you answer, gesturing to the man next to you. his eyebrows raise and he looks directly in front of him, a smirk playing on his lips as he drinks down all of what’s left in his glass and refills it again. you surprise him more and more every day.

“he’s what?” ororo questions, shock written all over her.

you roll your eyes. “you don’t have to do the clueless bit. jean reads minds and i know she’s told you two,” you state, pointing between ororo and scott.

“what? i haven’t—i didn’t—,” jean stutters over her words, laughing through them.

“liar,” you clock it in a high-pitched tone, sipping your drink. “i’ve heard you talk about it before. i’m just surprised you haven’t mentioned it yet.”

the three of them exchange glances. “okay, yeah, we knew. we thought you would deny it anyway so we didn’t bring it up,” ororo admits.

logan stays silent, drinking like he’s been thirsting for days. why are you doing this? “so…you two are…,” scott trails off. you shrug as your answer. “hmm.”

“hey, sweetheart, you never came back,” the guy from early comes up behind you and wraps an around your shoulders. you tense up at the feeling.

you remove his hand from you. “don’t touch me, and don’t call me sweetheart,” you tell him. he laughs and looks at your colleagues.

“why not? looks like everybody’s got a matchup here but you. let me help you fix that,” he says and runs the knuckles of his finger across your collarbone. he points at scott and jean, then logan and ororo. “i can make you feel good,” he whispers in your ear.

“seriously, don’t touch me,” you tell him firmly, pushing his hand off your shoulder and shifting your seat away from him.

logan doesn’t watch the encounter but he’s squeezing the glass in his hand so hard it’s about to shatter. he feels the red-hot rage crawl up his neck as he does every time he encounters some asshole in a bar.

“don’t be like that, sweetheart,” the man continues and reaches for the strap over your shoulder. chills cover your arms and legs and a shiver runs down your spine. you grab his hand roughly and shove it away from you.

“touch me again and i’m gonna break your fucking nose,” you tell him.

“ooh, i got a feisty one,” he comments to the rest of your group, laughing. “i like that.”

scott takes a step forward. “you need to lay off, man,” he tells him, trying to keep this civil and contained.

the man only laughs harder. “what are you gonna do, glasses?” he asks him and slings his arm over your shoulders. “come on, baby, let’s get out of here. i got a real nice spot for you in my bed.”

“she already told you not to touch her, bub,” logan chimes in, still looking straight ahead and not sparing the boy a glance. there’s a tightness in his shoulders as he uses all his self control to stay in his seat.

“woah, tell your bodyguards to stand down,” he says to you but your only response is to rear back and deck him directly in the nose.

he stumbles back, holding his nose as blood drips into his hand. “you dumb bitch—,” he lunges toward you but logan whips around and grabs him by the front of his shirt, shoving him up against a wall.

“what’d you say?” the mutant asks him lowly, a growl deep in his throat.

“hey, take it outside!” the bartender yells at the man.

“why don’t we do that? you wanna take it outside?” logan asks the scared man in his grasp, shoving him harder into the wall.

“logan, let’s go,” ororo tells him as she walks with you toward the door. he doesn’t move. “logan!”

he drops his hold on the man and turns his back to him. he doesn’t even take a step before the dumbass says, “yeah, listen to your bitch.”

logan turns back around and absolutely socks him in the jaw. the man falls to the ground. logan walks after his friends, rolling his shoulders.

when logan gets out to the car, he sees you in the driver's seat, holding your hand closely to his body. he sits in the passenger seat and looks at you.

“are you okay?” he asks you carefully.

“did you kill him?” you ask him flatly without meeting his gaze, and he shakes his head. “you should’ve,” you say coldly and start the engine, driving out of the parking lot and back to the mansion as quickly as possible.

when you arrive, logan accompanies you to the lab for jean to look at your hand. he wasn’t going to say anything but watching you cradle your hand makes him change his mind. “are you alright?” he asks you.

“fine,” you reply sharply, clenching your jaw tightly. he watches you bite at your lip.

“speak your mind,” he tells you, just outside the hidden elevator. you just shake your head at him. “if you don’t, you’ll take it out on jean.”

“why can’t i just do that?” you ask lowly.

“‘cause she doesn’t deserve it,” he reasons.

you take a deep, frustrated breath. “what happened tonight was stupid,” you say, “dumb fucking men thinking they can get whatever they want whenever they want. now my hand might be broken because i couldn’t—,” you cut yourself off and take another deep breath to steady yourself. “i’m done talking about this,” you say and open the door to the hidden elevator.

he blocks your path. “no, you’re not,” he says and waits for you to continue. that’s when the dam really breaks and you last out at him.

“it’s stupid. all of this is fucking stupid. i could’ve handled myself back there. i didn’t need you to step up and be my big, strong savior,” you tell him angrily, voice rising.

“i know,” he returns.

you’re shouting now, “then why couldn’t you just let me do it? i could’ve stopped him. i’m stronger now. i know how to fight now. i don’t need anybody to save me. i can save myself. i don’t need you. i don’t need any of you.” your voice cracks as the anger starts to shift into the feelings you hate to feel. “i’m not gonna let anyone take advantage of me ever again. and i’ll break every bone in my body before i let some drunk narcissistic man ever put his hands on me again,” you say your peace and breathe heavily and unsteadily.

there’s a long pause, the weight of your words hanging between you. logan doesn’t interrupt, giving you the floor to get it all out.

“i know,” he repeats himself deeply, “but you shouldn't have to.”

you feel that familiar ache in the back of your throat as tears threaten to spill out. you squeeze your eyes shut tightly, pushing all the emotions back down. “my hand really hurts,” you tell him quietly, not trusting your voice. he puts his hand gently on your back and leads you into the elevator then into the lab.

by the time you’re in front of jean, you’ve pulled yourself together and let her examine your hand. you did break your hand. she wraps it up for you and sends you to your room with some pain meds.

logan doesn’t leave your side until you’re at your bedroom door. “i don’t want you to come inside,” you tell him quietly. he stays silent. “it’s just that you’ve never seen my room before and this is mostly where i use my abilities and it’s messy right now and—.”

“‘t’s fine,” he interrupts your rambling. “i don’t have to come inside.”

“right,” you mumble, hand gripping the doorknob. “good night.”

“‘night.” he doesn’t make his way to his room until you slip into yours, locking the door behind you.

the next mid-morning, logan walks into the kitchen to see jean scolding you like a child. he’s surprised you’re just sitting there and taking it without a word.

“i’m serious,” jean says, finishing her tongue lashing.

“i know,” you mumble before jean offers logan a soft ‘good morning’ as she leaves.

“what was that about?” he asks you, moving over to the table where you sit with paper spread in front of you.

“i need to grade these papers but my hand is broken and dr grey told me it would only cause more damage,” you explain, sighing heavily and holding the pen in your healthy hand.

“let me help,” he says, snatching the pen from your fingers and the paper from in front of you. the numbers on the sheet are all greek to him. he doesn’t know what the hell he’s looking at.

“you can’t,” you tell him, pulling the paper from his hands. “you don’t know how to do it.”

“then tell me,” he offers, moving his chair next to yours. “tell me what’s wrong and i’ll write it down.”

you shake your head a few times before giving in. “fine,” you cave and look over the student’s work. you place the page in front of the man and point a certain part of a problem. “okay, so he should’ve foil’d here but he didn’t so the rest of the work is wrong. put a line through it and write ‘foil’,” you instruct him and he follows your orders.

“like that?” he asks, showing you. you nod in approval.

“your handwriting actually isn’t that bad. i was expecting a lot worse,” you comment, leaning into him as you look over the next problem. “that one’s right, so put a check,” you tell him and he follows.

the process continues on. every time there’s a gap of silence as you examine the math that he would never even try to understand, he watches you in complete admiration. there are practically hearts in his eyes while the gears turn in your brain.

as the next few days progress, you and logan spend more time together than you ever have. whether he’s in your classroom during your free period or you watch whatever movie’s on tv together on the couch, if someone’s looking for logan, you’re right beside him and vice versa.

of course, the others have taken notice of it. it’s new and after you confirmed you had been sleeping together, they draw their own conclusions about the two of you.

“‘y’know what i would like to see?” you prompt logan as you watch a show with a lumberjack in it.

“what’s that, darlin’?” he asks, not taking his eyes off the screen.

“you chop wood,” you tell him, looking up at him from your spot under his arm.

“chop wood?” he questions.

“yeah, like, axe, wood, outside, shirtless, sweaty, and muscly, chopping wood,” you tell him, “lumberjack style.”

“lumberj—.”

“with the cigar,” you add excitedly, cutting him off. “maybe add in a little dehydration too.”

“i think you’re drooling a little bit,” he tells you, pointing at your mouth as a lazy smile rests on his face.

“probably, that’s hot,” you tell him, looking back at the screen.

as the credits roll, logan looks down to see you sound asleep with your head resting on his chest. he carefully picks you up in his arms and carries you to your room.

he opens the door and pauses his movements, eyes dancing across your room. there are no personal touches on the walls or shelves. it looks exactly like his did when he first got to the mansion. well, except for one obvious difference.

your room looks completely dilapidated, like an abandoned home that the sun and time have destroyed. the dark color of the wooden floors and furniture has faded, every surface dry and brittle. in some parts, mostly near the window, the wood is completely bleached of its color.

he lays you in your bed and covers you up, taking in the room once more before he leaves.

“why don’t you have another name like everyone else?” he asks as you sit next to him on the bench where you now regularly take your smoke breaks on.

“like a last name? i do have one,” you answer, flicking the butt of your cigarette onto the pavement.

“scott has cyclops, marie’s got rogue,” he elaborates, glancing over at you. you’re sitting right beside him, his arm thrown over the back of the bench in a way that your head rests on it.

“i don’t know. i guess i never understood why i have to change my name just because i’m a mutant. i am who i am, human or mutant,” you answer, messing with a loose thread on your pants. “plus, seeing the way you made fun of the others when you first got here for their names—i’d never even try to think of one now,” you tell him, making him chuckle. you smile proudly at making him laugh. “you looked so cute when you first got here.”

“are you saying i’m not cute anymore?” he asks in mock offense, looking at you sideways.

“i mean, when i first saw you, you had that big jacket on and you were so clueless. a little less muscle too,” you recount, poking his toned stomach to which he curls to the side. your jaw drops. “are you ticklish?” you ask him, a smile growing on your face.

“no,” he replies sharply and gruffly, straightening his posture.

“oh, my fuck. you so are ticklish,” you accuse and dig your fingers into his ribs, attempting to tickle him.

a deep laugh leaves him, and he grabs your hand in his, his facial expression dropping quickly. “stop,” he tells you in warning. you just laugh in his face, reaching toward him with your other hand, cigarette still between your fingers. he grabs your other hand before you touch him, cigar between his fingers. “no,” he denies you.

you look toward the mansion and see the sun reflecting off a window. you bend the light so it’s shining directly in his eyes, almost burning them. he shuts his eyes tightly and brings one of his hands up to his face. as quickly as you can, you reach back into his side.

he quickly stands up and looks down at you. “enough,” he says and points a finger in your face.

you stand up also, but you’re shorter than him so he’s still looking down at you. you decide to stand on the bench, now a little taller than he is. you don’t say anything, just look down on him with a straight face.

logan can’t help the smile that breaks his scowl. “you’re an idiot,” he tells you, raising his eyebrows at you.

you mimic his gesture then flick the cigarette butt onto the ground. “you are cute, wolvie,” you say and ruffle his hair. “i get the whole towering over people know. this is a power trip for sure,” you comment.

“oh, really?” he questions and puts the cigar between his lips. he grabs you around your waist and throws you over his shoulder like you’re as light as a feather.

you let out a surprised squeal as he walks away from your bench with you in his hold. “put me down. bad boy, bad dog,” you chastise him hitting his lower back. he doesn’t listen so you just hang over his shoulder as he drags you into the mansion.

you grab his ass abruptly and he stops in his tracks. he places you on the floor and tilts his head as he looks into your eyes, taking the cigar from his mouth. “‘bad dog’?”

“yeah, wolverine,” you say, gesturing to him.

“a wolverine’s not a dog,” he tells you, smiling down at you.

your brow furrows. “yeah, it’s like a small wolf, right?” you wonder and feel like an idiot when he laughs at you.

“no,” he answers, shaking his head.

“liar,” you accuse.

he tells you, “go to the zoo. there’s some there.”

you look up at him in disbelief. “you’re fucking with me,” she states and he shakes his head in complete amusement. “if you’re lying to me, i’ll—.”

“what? try to blind me again?” he asks, cutting you off.

“maybe i will,” you challenge, crossing your arms.

he pauses for a moment, considering. “maybe i want you to,” he says and his tone drops, like, two octaves when he says it.

you’re suddenly aware of how close the two of you are, how his hands gripped your waist just a moment before, how effortlessly he carried you. the playful atmosphere shifts and you feel heat creep up your neck and across your cheeks. you don’t blush, especially not around him.

“logan,” is all you say softly. he notices the change in tone. he notices everything about you, every detail, every flaw, every perfection.

for a moment, neither of you speak. the air between you is charged. your eyes travel all over his face. he really is such an attractive guy. and when you peel back the tough guy layer, he’s a sweetheart.

“thanks for the ride,” you say lightly, trying to break the tension.

he nods, gaze still locked on you. “anytime,” he remarks, his voice rougher than it was a moment before.

you both stand there for a few more seconds, not really sure where to go from here. his eyes shift from yours to your lip as you chew on it. his jaw tightens and he looks away from you, taking a step back to give you some space.

your heart pounds against your chest unfamiliarly. everything about this feels so new to you.

“see you around, pup,” you say, your voice back to its teasing tone.

“yeah,” he adds, watching as you turn away and walk back toward the mansion.

more days pass and you spend more time with logan. he notices that you make fun of him more, teasing him for small stuff.

it’s only when he’s in the laundry room that ororo catches him alone. “hey, logan,” she greets. he mumbles something of the same. “so…you look pretty cozy with a certain mutant.”

“huh?”

“you know what i’m talking about,” she says, leaning against a washing machine.

“it’s nothing,” he tells her, starting the machine he threw his clothes into haphazardly.

“‘doesn’t look like nothing,” she returns.

“leave it alone,” he grumbles, turning to leave the room.

ororo steps in front of him, placing a hand on his chest. “please, don’t hurt her, logan,” she requests.

“she doesn’t want me the way you think,” he tells her.

“you can’t seriously believe that,” she says, looking back and forth between his eyes.

at that very moment, you turn the corner and your eyes widen. you ignore the sting in your chest as you let out a loud “woah.” ororo quickly turns around and takes a step away from logan. “i didn’t mean to interrupt,” you tell them with your hands up in surrender, but that was exactly your intention when you spoke up.

“you weren’t interrupting anything,” logan tells you, watching you move past him to grab a laundry basket.

“i’m not judging,” you reply, walking back to the door. you turn back last second and look at ororo. “hey, if he asks you to wear a red wig, say no,” you tell her with a wink before leaving.

“i never—,” logan cuts himself off, shutting his eyes and shaking his head. “i never did that,” he says to her.

“God, i hope not. what the hell,” she remarks, shoving his arm. “she was jealous. you need to go tell her nothing happened.” he sighs deeply and takes a step forward. “‘you really still think she doesn’t want you?”

he doesn’t reply and follows after you. you’re walking as quickly as you can up the stairs when he catches up to you. “hey,” he calls after you.

“don’t worry, buddy. secret’s safe with me,” you tell him, picking up your pace as you reach the top of the stairs but he keeps in step with you.

“there’s not a secret. we were just talking,” he says.

you place a hand on your bedroom doorknob. “really, you don’t have to defend yourself to me,” you say and open your door, slipping inside. before you can shut it, logan stops the door with his hand. you look at him through the crack in the door, pushing your lips into a thin line. “uhm…”

“there’s nothing going on between me and storm,” he tells you.

“i’m not gonna tell anybody,” you return, frustration rising in your tone. you push against the door but your strength is in no way comparable to his.

“i’m serious,” he tries again, almost pleading. “i don’t want her, i want—.”

“jean? look at that, finishing each other’s sentences again,” you cut him off with a false laugh.

“come on, darlin‘,” he says, tilting his head to the side.

you groan. “i just thought—,” you stop yourself, sighing. “it doesn’t matter what i thought.”

“it does matter,” he tells you, pushing the door a little wider. you move into the space between the doorway and the door, trying to block his view into the room. “tell me,” he encourages, getting closer to you.

“i thought you weren’t a whore,” you retort, giving him a hardened look.

“that’s not what you were gonna say,” he states lowly, looking deeply into your eyes. “what was it?” you pull your bottom lip between your teeth, biting into the skin. he reaches his hand to your jaw, his thumb pulling the lip from between your teeth. “don’t do that. you know it drives me crazy.”

“i thought maybe you wanted me for more than sex,” you admit, feeling embarrassed as the words slip out. you clench your jaw, preparing for the rejection. a smirk slide onto his face and you drop your head. “okay, bye.”

you move back and push against the door again, but this time he pushes the door all the way open. your eyes widen as he takes a long stride toward you and pulls you back to him by the back of your neck. he presses his lips against yours feverishly to which you obviously reciprocate.

he pulls away and rests his forehead against yourself, breathing heavily. “i want you in every way possible, sweetheart,” he says.

you swallow thickly, putting a hand on his chest and pushing him away. “you don’t want me,” you tell him. he wraps his arms around your waist and pulls you back into him, your chest pushing against his.

“i do,” he counters.

“you don’t,” you respond.

there’s a beat of silence. “i do,” he says again. you just look up into his eyes. “i want you. i’m not the best person for you, i know that. i’m older and unhappy and i probably can’t be there for you emotionally,” he lists then shakes his head at you, looking at you like you make the world go round. “but i want you, i want every part of you—the good, the bad, the hot and sexy, and the rude and snappy. everything.”

you’re quiet. you don’t know what to say, what is there to even say? in your head, he’s always wanted jean and you were just a place filler. you’ve been under the impression that you caught feelings and he didn’t reciprocate them at all. maybe you’re wrong just this once.

“i want you too,” you tell him in a whisper. he watches your brow furrow as you look away from his eyes. his face falls. “but—.”

“no ‘but.’ don’t say ‘but’,” he begs, loosening his grip on your waist.

“logan, i can live with you not being there for me emotionally, but i don’t know if you can live with me not being for you sexually,” you tell him. dread takes over your body. this beautiful, morally grey, perfect-for-you man is in the palm of your hand and you’re letting him slip through your fingers.

her visible confusion deepens. “you’ve been perfect for the past few months,” he tells you, misinterpreting your words as insecurity.

you shake your head. “i meant it when i said i can’t fuck you sober,” you tell him slowly, avoiding his gaze completely. you feel his hands move from his loosened grip to a hover over your hips. you can’t read his mind like you usually can. logan wears his thoughts on his face, perfectly readable when he’s mad or happy or just his normal grumpy. but now, it’s like trying to read a book in a language you didn’t know existed. “i’m sorry,” you add when his silence becomes too much.

“i don’t care,” he tells you as soon as you finish the last syllable.

“you know i don’t apologize for shit and you don’t care that i’m sorry?” you ask him. you go to push him off again but he pulls you back in, this time wrapping his around your neck, smothering your face in his burly chest.

“i don’t care about sex,” he tells you as he rests his head atop yours. you return the embrace and hold him around his ribs. “i don’t care if you never touch me again. i love you.” your eyes widen and he feels your body tense up. he chuckles, pulling away and smiling at you. “too soon?”

“a little,” you tell him, nodding. you then smile back at him.

———

a/n: i haven’t written in a long time . pls don’t rip me up if u hate this🙏

[butterr-bee]

WL!Winner Imagery Thoughts

Since the Wild Life finale was yesterday I thought I would share my thoughts on what the winner’s celestial symbolism should be in the form of a very long tumblr post, because what else do I have to do with my time?

Spoilers for the Wild Life SMP finale and winner + long post

Firstly a big congrats to Joel for winning!!! It's very deserved and he worked so hard for it, so GG!!

Like I said above, I’ve got some thoughts about what celestial body we should use to represent him as a winner and so I’m going to share them with whoever stumbles upon this.

[NOTE: Anything I say here is not meant to attack anyone who has different opinions or belittle anyone. I’m doing this for fun and to share my thoughts, not to hurt anyone's feelings. I love you all, do whatever you want forever.]

So far for each of the winners we have;

Sun - Grian

Stars - Scott

Moon - Pearl

Mars - Martyn (some people say Comet/Meteor but Mars is the most popular)

Earth - Scar

Pluto - Cleo (this depends on your personal headcanons as well but I like it, and this post isn’t about the intricacies of mine)

Now as funny as all of the “he should be car” jokes are (seriously they’re hilarious to me), I don't want to take away from his win by making it a joke, especially since we already have someone who isn’t fully accepted as a serious winner. (IDC if it was April Fools, Cleo you will always be a winner in my heart)

I’ve also seen a few people say Mars or Meteor, but this becomes confusing with Martyn’s symbolism and takes away from Joel’s win as well. I want to avoid that as much as possible because he deserves the same respect as the other winners.

Other ones I’ve seen are; Chariot, Supernova, White Dwarf, Shooting Star, Neutron Star, Jupiter, Mercury, and I’m sure there are more. None of these really stick for me so I’m going to go ahead and add to the list.

Usually, I’ve stayed out of discussions about winner symbolism in the past and left it up to the more brainy fans, but I have thought about what different players could be from time to time since I absolutely love space. When my older sibling said Venus it got my mental hamster going on its wheel.

Venus has been a popular planet in history for an incredibly long time and in many different cultures. It’s the second brightest object in the night sky (second to the Moon) and has a fascinating synodic cycle (how it moves through the sky). This movement causes it to get to a certain distance from the Sun to make it look like it’s disappearing from the sky for several days and then reappearing on the other side of it. Because of this, Venus can appear before sunrise in the morning or after sunset in the evening, but it never seems to reach the top of the sky. This has led to it being known by two other names, Morning Star and Evening Star. It also has many other names in different cultures and it wasn’t until the 13th century that it was given the name Venus, but I won't go into all of that today.

Venus has lots and lots of history around it mythologically, having been portrayed as both feminine and masculine and even as two figures at once. It’s known for representing love, war, beauty, and relationships—and it just isn’t quite right for Joel.

So after doing my extra research on Venus, I found that it wasn’t really the best fit (sorry Kat, not enough talk about family for it to cut it /hj). Even with the interesting parallel of Grian and Joel’s dynamic and how Venus goes from one side of the Sun and ends up on the other, it was too much of a stretch. I was going to stop here but then I got thinking about other planets and my mind wandered to the seventh planet from the sun.

You all know and love to make jokes about his name, Uranus! (a little pet peeve of mine, it’s pronounced your-un-us NOT your-anus)

Uranus is one of two Ice Giants and has the coldest planetary atmosphere in the Solar System. It’s named after the ancient Greek deity of the sky, the father of Kronos, but it has been argued that it has more mythological relevance with my favorite boy Prometheus. You know, the Titan that ticked off the gods by stealing fire for mortals and now has to have his liver eaten by eagles for eternity? Yeah, my boy.

This planet is known for being the planet of freedom and revolutionary vision. It represents the urge for change, the ability to visualize new possibilities, and “breaking through”. Much like how Joel was trying a new tactic for winning this season, Uranus is known symbolically for defying tradition and embracing change and originality.

So, it’s known for breakthroughs, extremes, innovation, and rebellion. Sounds about right for Joel, but I didn’t want to stop there. Doing more digging I looked for other similarities between the two of them.

A lot of what I found fit Joel’s character pretty well, but mostly from past seasons; eccentric, strange, unique, unpredictable, and untamed (although Joel is always strange /lh) but I was looking for something more current, something that was all about family. I did find the word wild used and referred to a few times though which was great.

My search was getting repetitive, everyone had the same things to say about Uranus’s symbolism and I was looking for someone to go more in-depth. But eventually, I made a breakthrough (how fitting)—the word “reformation”, which Oxford defines as “the action or process of reforming an institution or practice”. Bingo baby!

I looked further into this side of Uranus, the sort of things that use the wild aspects of this sort of personality in meaningful and productive ways. Lots of people were saying that negative expressions of Uranus include irresponsibility and rebelliousness without a cause—things that kept Joel from winning in the past—but I found someone who said this;

“Uranus asks us to adopt a humanitarian spirit and global mindset, allowing us to live as one unified being.”

This implies that to reach the positive expressions of Uranus—things like progressiveness, ingenuity, and enlightenment—a person under this planet would need to start looking beyond themselves as a singular goal and to care for and support others. To “live as one unified being” the way one might say a family should work together as a unit for the benefit of everyone involved. In other words, to use their eccentric and wild personality to help others as well as themself.

And what was Joel’s entire Wild Life PoV about? Dom Toretto Flipping his previous tactic of being an insane loner /j on its head and making friends by helping everyone else as well as himself. He used his wild nature and ability to commit to the bit to his advantage and won the whole series as the last green name, last yellow name, and last man standing.

So that is why I propose that we start using the planet Uranus to symbolize Joel’s victory—an equally wild and unpredictable symbol that can step up and help others to help himself.

Now, I know it doesn't fit the rhyme that’s been going around, but I can’t think of anything else that fits better and there's always next season for more rhyming words. (Grian did say see you next season, if it doesn't happen IDK what to say about your rhyme, shrug)

Also, not important to characterization but a fun bit of trivia anyway, Uranus was the sixth planet discovered by the ancient Greeks and Romans and it’s the seventh planet from the Sun. So regardless of whether you consider Joel the sixth or seventh winner, there’s a fun number coincidence.

Sorry if this doesn't make sense or fit, I wrote it all on minimal sleep and without my glasses. Also, I haven't watched all of Joel’s life series PoV yet so maybe someone with better qualifications should do this. Anyway, if you made it this far I love you and I wish you well. Have a doodle that I also did without my glasses for your patience and to maybe sway you some more.

[gatorbites-imagines]

HOBiE BROWN NSFW AND SFW HEADCANONS PLS 🙏🙏🙏

LAWD i am soo down bad for that man, good lord. 😩

If hobie tells me to jump from a building, I WOULD AND I'D THANK HIM⁉️⁉️🙏

-🥚 anon (its been so long since we've interacted, but im always lurking on your account and checking them out, but not like your post it because you deserve better :)

Hobie Brown sfw alphabet

Have an alphabet

I am love Hobie Brown :).

A = Affection (How affectionate are they? How do they show affection?)

Hobie isn’t the most physically affectionate I believe, at least in public. He just doesn’t come across as someone who’s all lovey dovey more the most part. When youre alone though? He flops in your lap, good luck getting out.

B = Best friend (What would they be like as a best friend? How would the friendship start?)

This man would both die and kill for you as your bestie. He definitely corrupts you, or enlightens you, in the ways of being punk and why capitalism sucks ass. DIY makes you clothes, sews spikes into your jackets, and puts patches on your pants for you.

C = Cuddles (Do they like to cuddle? How would they cuddle?)

This man is all hard and sharp edges, it probably takes a while to get used to cuddling with him without being jabbed by his elbows or shoulders. He likes to cuddle after you guys have been together for a while, and he knows he wants to stay with you. Big spoon and little spoon, doesn’t matter.

D = Domestic (Do they want to settle down? How are they at cooking and cleaning?)

I don’t think he would want to settle down, at least for a very long time. Settling down would be too boring for him, he likes excitement in his life.

E = Ending (If they had to break up with their partner, how would they do it?)

Hobie isn’t one to beat around the bush, so hed just tell you. Get it done and over with.

F = Fiance(e) (How do they feel about commitment? How quick would they want to get married?)

Honestly? I don’t think Hobie believes in marriage. Its just a way to spend a lot of money for a piece of paper, a part of the machine of society, or something like that.

G = Gentle (How gentle are they, both physically and emotionally?)

I think he secretly can be quite gentle, he’s great at being there for you emotionally if you are struggling. He does tend to be quite tough, but if you are struggling hes there for you.

H = Hugs (Do they like hugs? How often do they do it? What are their hugs like?)

He likes to hug, though it tends to be one armed hug or him throwing his arm over someone’s shoulder. After a long patrol he comes home to you though, and just wants to hold you for a while. Like with cuddling hes all sharp edges, but its comfortable in its own weird way.

I = I love you (How fast do they say the L-word?)

He wouldn’t say it very fast, probably a few months since he has to make sure you are the one. He also doesn’t find it that important to say, since he expresses his love through actions.

J = Jealousy (How jealous do they get? What do they do when they’re jealous?)

Hobie doesn’t come across as the jealous type for the most part, he doesn’t go through your things or want you to not have friends who are certain genders. He does make his move though if anyone else is flirting with you. He wouldn’t start fights unless the other person started it first, but he will finish it.

K = Kisses (What are their kisses like? Where do they like to kiss you? Where do they like to be kissed?)

His kisses would be intense, especially after you two have grown to truly love one another. He always kisses you like its gonna be your last. He loves kissing you on the lips and your hands, he likes when you kiss his hands too or his forehead when you cuddle.

L = Little ones (How are they around children?)

Hobie is great with kids, he treats them like their own people and respect them, which means the kids love him.

M = Morning (How are mornings spent with them?)

He sleeps late most days because he’s out at night being spiderman, so most mornings are spent cuddling as he doesn’t wanna get up just yet.

N = Night (How are nights spent with them?)

He’s out most nights as spiderman, and when he isn’t you two always go out to do things, like go to concerts, protests, go hang out with other people or just to have fun. Though you also have nights where it’s just the two of you.

O = Open (When would they start revealing things about themselves? Do they say everything all at once or wait a while to reveal things slowly?)

Hobie would wait a while before opening up about himself, since he’s spiderman and the life he’s lived, he can’t just trust anyone. There most likely still things about him you don’t know, but you know he will tell you if it’s important.

P = Patience (How easily angered are they?)

Hobie is pretty patient, for the most part. Though it depends on who you are, if you are a fascist, a racist, or anything like that, he has absolutely no patience.

Q = Quizzes (How much would they remember about you? Do they remember every little detail you mention in passing, or do they kind of forget everything?)

Hobie remembers most things you tell him because you are important to him, so he makes sure to keep it in mind. He probably remembers the small things you assume he will forget.

R = Remember (What is their favorite moment in your relationship?)

Definitely if you guys have had a spiderman kiss. It’s the smaller things, like when you two are sitting together in his apartment and he’s just playing on his guitar when you mess with his wicks, or cuddling, or if you paint his nails for him.

S = Security (How protective are they? How would they protect you? How would they like to be protected?)

Depends on the situation, for the most part he knows you can protect yourself. But if he knows you need it, he steps in swinging. He won’t let you get hurt if he has any say. Part of him would also like if you protected him too, even though you both know he can protect himself.

T = Try (How much effort would they put into dates, anniversaries, gifts, everyday tasks?)

It truly depends on the situation, for the most part he doesn’t put too much effort into dates. It would just be things like you two going out to get some food to go and sitting on a bench and talking, or even bringing it home. Or going to a concert or something like that. Of course, he has his moments, for anniversaries or if he just feels like it, where he makes a bigger deal out of it.

U = Ugly (What would be some bad habits of theirs?)

His apartment is a mess, like wow. But its like an organized mess. But if you don’t like messes its probably difficult. He most likely has a pair of crust punk pants too, so do with that as you will.

V = Vanity (How concerned are they with their looks?)

He isn’t concerned at all, he doesn’t believe in vanity and the level of power society puts on appearances. As long as he’s comfortable, he doesn’t care.

W = Whole (Would they feel incomplete without you?)

After a while, yeah. After your lives have become very intertwined, he couldn’t imagine his life without you.

X = Xtra (A random headcanon for them.)

Can do so many different types of art. Sewing, knitting, painting, sculpting, woodwork, the list goes on and on. He’s also so incredibly smart, and has memorized like, all the laws in the area he lives, so he can throw them back in the faces of people who would try to arrest him or someone else.

Y = Yuck (What are some things they wouldn’t like, either in general or in a partner?)

Vanity, if you care way too much about appearances or what others think about you. If you are super rich, he doesn’t like capitalism, so he probably wouldn’t like a partner who’s involved with it more than normal.

Z = Zzz (What is a sleep habits of theirs?)

His sleep habits are as messy as any other spider-person. Goes to sleep late, sleeps late in the morning. Goes longer periods of time without sleeping when working on things, you have to drag him to bed at times.

[radiant-reid]

An Out of The Ordinary Meeting

Summary: Derek sets Spencer up with a friend of his... an ex-girlfriend, who also knows another member of the BAU personally

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Fem!Reader (fluff)

Content Warning: couple of suggestive comments

Word Count: 2.5k

Masterlist | Navigation

Since Spencer confided in Elle about his struggles to get a date, she has been a little worried about him. After three years, he has roots in DC and is an eligible candidate for a girlfriend. Even if he's not saying anything, she can tell he wishes he had someone, someone to talk to and spend time with.

So, like any good friend, she hates a plan with someone with a lot of dating experience. "We need to get Reid a girlfriend." She tells Morgan.

"What, he can't do it himself?" Morgan asks.

Elle glares at him but answers honestly. "No, I don't think he can."

"Exactly." He says. "How could I possibly help him? You've got to admit he's awkward with girls." She nods in agreement. She had seen it before. Even if he wasn't interested in dating them, he couldn't talk to them. "He's uncoachable."

She shakes her head, trying a different strategy. "Surely you know someone who would date him."

"Yeah, maybe, but I'd have to whisper in his ear what to say." He disagrees. "And I do not want to be doing that at the end of the night if you know what I mean."

Unfortunately, she did know, and she didn't like that. "Yuck!" She exclaims, but she spots a reinforcement. "Garcia." She calls their friend over.

"No, no, no." Morgan shakes his head.

"What's wrong?" Elle teases as Penelope joins them.

"You're playing dirty getting my baby girl involved." Morgan answers.

Penelope frowns at both of them. "Involved in what?"

"Reid's dating life." Elle says, determined to talk first to get her point across. "He needs to meet someone and Derek is refusing to help."

"I practice charity in other ways." Morgan defends himself, promptly getting jabbed in the ribs by Penelope. "Ouch."

She scowls at him. "You need to help him out." She instructs him. "He might be awkward but he's sweet and he deserves to have someone great. Introduce him to someone, although you should tell me her name first so I can double-check."

If Morgan thought he was losing to Elle, he knows he's got no chance of opting out if they're both in agreement. "Alright, fine. I might know someone." He concedes. "Not sure she'll even agree, though."

"Oh, there's a story there." Penelope, although not a profiler, catches his tone.

Morgan sits down at his desk, sighing. "Yes, there is."

~

One of the last people Y/n is expecting to get a call from one random Tuesday night is Derek Morgan, but she answers, feeling more worry than she feels bothered. He wouldn't call unless something had happened, which is probably the only reason she kept his number. "Hey, Derek." She says, crossing her legs where she sits on the couch.

"Y/n, hi." He replies. "How are you?"

It's not what she was expecting him to ask. "Good. Is this an annual booty call?" She wonders playfully. There's no bad blood, but they didn't stay friends after the breakup.

"It's not." He assures her before adding a typical Derek Morgan line. "Unless you want it to be."

She scoffs, shaking her head even though he can't see. "Nope, sorry, D. Why'd you call?"

"I need a favor." He tells her.

"For me to sleep with you?" She wonders, both of them laughing.

"For you to sleep with someone else." He says. "Eventually."

She frowns at what he's saying, unsure about what his game is. "Like you're a pimp?"

"Like I'm cupid." He returns quickly. "I'm trying to find you your soulmate."

She laughs slightly at his offer. "That's an awful lot for my ex-boyfriend to be doing for me."

"I promise there's no other game here," Derek says, and she's inclined to believe him. "He's a good guy, smart, respectful, heroic."

"I usually go for gym-loving black belts with muscles for days." She jokes. "He sounds maybe more like your type."

He laughs at that, shaking his head. "So you'll go out with him?" He asks hopefully. He hears her sigh through the phone. "One date, and if he's the worst date ever, I'll stay out of your love life. And when you get married, I want to be the best man."

"Whoa, slow your roll, cowboy." She stops him. "I'll agree to meet him, but I really don't think you should be meddling in my love life."

He chuckles. "It's a little unconventional." He agrees. "Also, you know I'm a Bears fan."

It's hard to forget. "Chicago through and through."

"Tuesday night, I'll text you where." He tells her. "Wear something sexy."

"Derek Morgan-"

"Bye."

Her growling gets cut off by his farewell, and she knows he hung up smirking.

~

She’s not sure why she agrees, but she has time to think about it over the next few days. Maybe it’s because she wanted an excuse to get out of HITT with her colleagues. If it is Derek, and she’s 50% sure it’s going to be, she can make him pay for a delicious lobster dinner, flirt with him, and leave him hanging, and if it’s not… well, she just hopes Derek’s friends are hot, then the evening might have a fun ending.

He’s picked an upscale restaurant- somewhere she wouldn’t pick if she had to foot the bill entirely- and she’s glad she put on fancier make up after work as well as pulling out a new dress, figuring it might as well get some wear.

“Derek Morgan for two.” She tells the hostess. “Or maybe Y/n L/n?”

“It’s under Derek Morgan.” She informs her, slipping out from behind the desk to guide her to the table. “You’re the first to arrive.”

She’s early but being late is a Morgan move. Like the time in college when he left her in the library for an extra two hours while he was doing whatever he was doing- his hair, she had guessed- for their date. Karma got him when he failed the test she spent the time studying for.

Their table is by the window of the restaurant where she can see out at the Potomac and the setting sun. Between that and picking out a cocktail, she doesn’t notice someone’s in front of her until he clears his throat.

It is not Derek Morgan.

He's about as different from Derek as it gets.

The differences are physical, and almost nothing about them lines up, but it's how they carry themselves, too. Whoever this is isn't half as confident as Derek.

He's dressed in a suit, expensive and probably Italian. The deep blue suits him well, and between his cheekbones and styled hair, he’s gorgeous.

"I'm S-Spencer- Doctor Spencer, uh, Reid." He introduces himself with as much gaucheness as he can muster. Something about it is endearing. "You don't have to call me Doctor. Or Reid, just- just Spencer works."

She rises to shake his hand. "I'm Y/n L/n." She introduces herself. "Derek didn't tell me you'd be so cute."

And he blushes, a bright red hue filling his cheeks at the compliment. It's almost cuter than the little smile he first gave her. He clears his throat, frantically searching for what to say. "Th-thank you."

"Sit, if you like." Y/n offers, realizing he's far too timid to take control of the situation.

He's much different than anyone she's ever been on a date with, totally opposing her strong, confident type. But it's yet to work out with one of them, so she figures she should give Spencer a chance.

And he's funny. With some wine in him, he's less awkward and more comfortable cracking jokes and telling stories. He's trying to impress her, not just expecting her to be impressed by his long list of degrees and achievements. He asks all the right questions, talking about himself the right amount. She can't find anything that's a reason not to like him.

Spencer pays for dinner without a second thought, slipping his card into the bill without looking at the total. It's not sinister or with expectations of where the evening's going.

"You know I don't usually do this," Y/n says once they're back outside. "But is there any chance you're in the mood for coffee back at my place?" She offers.

He doesn't catch the implication. "Yeah, I like coffee."

They have coffee that night...and the following morning.

She's glad she followed Derek's instructions and wore something sexy. Just seeing the look in Spencer's eyes when her dress slid off, revealing deep red lingerie, was worth it.

He didn't get any less sweet during their evening together, inexperienced and nervous but so willing to please. It was perfect.

Spencer left early the next morning to get to Quantico on time, not without them exchanging numbers and ways they knew Derek. Spencer tried to keep his reaction neutral, but he didn't expect her to be his friend's ex-girlfriend.

"Why did you tell me?" He demands when sees Derek sitting at his desk, interrupting the chatter between Derek, Garcia, and Elle rudely.

"Tell you what?" Morgan asks confused, spinning back in his chair.

Spencer glares at him. "That Y/n, who you set me up with, is your ex-girlfriend." Truthfully, he's mad about it. How does he stand a chance when she dated someone like Derek Morgan?

Garcia's mouth drops open as Elle's eyes widen. "No, you didn't!" Garcia says in horror, like he's committed a crime.

And maybe it is a crime against Bro-code, although usually, the rule is against dating your friend's ex-girlfriends, not against setting your ex-girlfriend up with your friend.

Either way, it's complicated.

Elle jumps in with Garcia's scolding. "Derek, come on!"

"Hey, hey, hey." He holds his hands up in defense when he's listened to them telling him off for long enough. "It clearly wasn't a problem."

Spencer frowns as the girls do, but he's more concerned than confused. "Wh-what? Why do you say that?" He splutters out quickly, voice getting squeaky and his cheeks going bright red.

"Come on!" Derek complains. "He's wearing the same thing he wore yesterday. He just put a cardigan over top of it."

Guilty.

He's been caught red-handed, and he doesn't know what to do besides awkwardly standing there, realizing they all know he got lucky last night.

"That's... that's beside the point," Spencer says quietly, chewing on his bottom lip.

Derek laughs loudly, shaking his head while the girls tease him. "You should be thanking me, man." He reminds his friend.

Spencer is thankful and so damn grateful. He's never had a connection with someone- intellectually, romantically, sexually- like he has with Y/n.

"Thank you." He whispers quietly before taking a seat at his desk.

Elle has one last serious question. "How do you know her, Morgan?"

"College," Morgan answers briefly. "But all I'll say is I'm not the only BAU member that knows her."

He keeps to his promise, not saying anything else despite the girls and Spencer pestering him about what he meant by that statement.

Who else knew her? She's too young to have dated Hotch or Gideon, so maybe she's a friend of JJ's. That's the best they come up with.

Thankfully, they don't have to wait long because not even ten minutes later, Y/n's walking through the glass doors of the sixth floor of the FBI. Spencer, more than anyone else, is very very surprised. He expected to see her again, but right here, right now?

She walks straight over to their desks, but Morgan's the first one she greets, wrapping her arms around his neck while he hugs her back. "Hey, D, good to see you." She says.

"You, too." He replies, letting her go after a moment. "So, you know Reid." He jokes, nodding to the flustered boy genius squirming in his seat.

"Yeah." She nods, squeezing his shoulder. "How are you doing Doctor Reid?"

"W-well." He answers, beaming up at her. "Re-really good."

She smirks back at him before turning to the two very excited and slightly confused women who are watching the interaction play out eagerly. "I'm Y/n L/n, the ex-girlfriend." She nods to Derek. "And the  new something." Her next nod is to Spencer.

Spencer's never been someone's something, but it sounds perfect. Elle and Garcia both excitedly shake her hand.

Unfortunately, they don't have the chance to ask all of their questions before Hotch makes himself known. "There she is!" He exclaims.

Y/n breaks away from the group, turning around to give him a hug. "Hey, dad."

"Dad?!" Spencer squeals in a whisper-yell, mostly directed at Morgan for not revealing that vital piece of information.

"Yup." Morgan agrees. "That was a surprise for me as well."

Spencer stands there petrified, looking between Y/n and Hotch. "This isn't a joke?" He asks.

"Nope," Morgan answers before filling him in on the details, finally. "Apparently, he was college-age. I met her at Northwestern Law, had no idea Hotch was her dad. It made for a very awkward reintroduction when she came by the BAU, and she had to fill him in on how I was the law school jerk she dated."

At least it wasn't that bad for Spencer. Hotch seemed to like him, but still, he might have negative feelings about Spencer being involved with his daughter.

Once Y/n is briefly caught up with her dad, she turns her attention back to Morgan. "Hey, can I have a word?"

"Sure." He agrees, following her to the conference room and leaving Spencer with Hotch.

Honestly, it's the last place he wants to be. Hotch must know. He's got to, and the more Spencer worries about Hotch figuring out he slept with his daughter, the redder and jumpier he gets.

"Reid, don't worry," Hotch says, not doing the overprotective dad speech that Spencer expected. Knowing Hotch like he knows him, there's no way he isn't protective over his daughter. Add to that two guns, and Spencer's self-preservation instinct is activated. "You can't be a worse boyfriend than Morgan was. Just treat her well, and there won't be a problem."

Spencer gulps, nodding and keeping his head down, only being able to breathe when Hotch returns to his office.

Y/n and Morgan's conversation also has one instructing, but it's Y/n instructing Morgan on something. "When the time comes, you're going to have to help him propose." She tells him, looking out the window subtly at Spencer. He's so cute she can't help her mind travel there.

"I'm a good pimp." Morgan jokes, earning himself a slap on the chest.

"Shush." She tells him. "But thank you. I know it's unconventional, but thanks for setting us up."

He squeezes her shoulder. "You're welcome."

"We're good?" She asks, offering out her hand.

Derek gives her a hug instead. "Always. Now go get your dream guy."

She nods with a smile. "I'm going to. As long as my father hasn't scared him off."

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[reinadelvudu]

As a Gambit fan, I’ve never been so salty about Romy in my life. (This is going to come across very anti Rogue, very sorry I know she’s your fav but I need this off my chest)

After their wedding you’d think things would get better but they never did, if anything it’s worse. He’s made to be comic relief and an overall joke for Rogue and that’s just not Gambit. He’s incompetent every time he’s with her and it’s gross. Over the last few Rogue and Gambit runs it’s clear as day she doesn’t love or respect him, she’s written like she hates him and that’s her husband? Nope. He needs to be free of her. He’s had so many fantastic relationships with people who genuinely like him, who are friends with him. Rogue and Gambit have only ever had sexual tension and pointless drama. They had their roll in the hay, tried the whole relationship for waaaaaay too long and it didn’t work. Romy is a toxic mess. Them being married hasn’t sloved it, nothing will. Gambit deserves better. She doesn’t love him and she never will. She doesn’t respect him or care about him unless he’s with someone else or in the ‘97 case, dead then she’s all about “her man”.

Gambit should be with someone who cares for him as a person not just as a sexy toy to parade around. He needs a healthy loving relationship and Rogue isn’t it. Not to mention all the mess with Mystique. When has Rogue ever defended him from her? Her mother has tried to kill him and has even sexually assaulted him yet that’s all in the past to play happy families for Rogue, Mystique still bitches and hates on him and now her wife does too and all we have from Rogue is “She’s my mama you have to trust her” YUCK! The trauma that man has been through for Rogue is horrendous. Roles reversed Gambit would be cancelled but Rogue’s a hot woman so fans think it’s cool to be abusive to your partner.

It feels like Romy fans are actually just Rogue fans because Remy is treated like dirt and that’s celebrated. They’re (not all of them, some ship and let ship and can appreciate the flaws in both characters and all of the writing) genuinely the worst comic fans in Marvel history, I think you’re the first Romy fan I haven’t blocked because you get his character. It’s so disheartening to see one of the best and most underrated characters used like a sex toy and a verbal punching bag. Justice for Remy because wheeew! Marvel won’t give it to him.

Rogue is my favorite female character BUT Gambit is above all, I would kill and die for him. So your verbal diarrhea is totally welcome. There's not much I can contribute because you've said it all and it's (sadly) true. But I will highlight two things: ''Roles reversed Gambit would be cancelled but Rogue's a hot woman so fans think it's cool to be abusive to your partner.'' ''It feels like Romy fans are actually just Rogue fans because Remy is treated like dirt and that's celebrated.'' Although writers/director are to blame for warping both characters every chance they get and not knowing how to write a mature couple, I too always felt that it's part of Rogue being a bitch to Gambit, it's something she can't seem to help. In the case of x men'97 I would like that from season 2 and until the definitive end of the series, they stay apart, just as teammates. I think it's the best and the fairest thing to do. As for the comics, I honestly can't think of anyone Remy could be in a serious relationship with. Well, not that he should be with anyone. I've been wanting to see him solo for a long time, just him on his own adventures, more of the guild, etc.

[a-witches-riddle]

I gotta say it’s really crazy how much has changed for me both mentally and physically in relation to my transition in the past four years. I looked back at old stuff of mine and it was really enlightening how depressed I was, how hopeless I felt. Pre everything I hated myself, hated my life. Feelings of joy was few and far between. I treated people around me like shit because I just hated myself that bad, and felt like I didn’t deserve happiness.

Now that I’ve been on hormones for over a year now, things are so wildly different that my past self doesn’t even resemble me. I feel happier, full of love. I feel more confident in my skin, my clothes, my day to day life (when i’m not forced to dress like a drone at work). My body has changed in so many wonderful ways that I feel like I can breathe again. I feel, free. Like I can start being the person I always had the capacity to become. That I can live as the beautiful, happy, lovely woman I know I am.

And I hope that the people who haven’t transitioned yet, those still living in terrible situations, feeling like they’re being held back… Those who can’t dress or act the way they want, those without hormones or surgeries or whatever you think would make you happy… That things WILL get better. I promise you. The place you’re in is hard, beyond hard. I know. I’ve been there. But please, there IS a light at the end. You’ll look back at yourself in the future and feel like I did, that you can take pride in yourself. You deserve happiness, a future. You deserve to blossom and grow into your most beautiful self. Because you existing is magic. You being here, on this planet, with all of us, is a blessing in and of itself.

Even if nobody believes in you, trusts you, respects you for your identity. Know that I do. Know that you’re loved. I love you, and you deserve a future you want to live in.

[fictionalcreator]

…okay i was convinced to read The Greatest Estate Developer and i have THOUGHTS and FEELINGS about it!! Only it’s 6 am and I haven’t slept in like 2 days because Gotta Read Story so not all of them are coherent

First and foremost (not really but for the bit) ORV has already established that the optimal throuple is a Weird Man, his aggressive but protective boyfriend, and an equally Weird Lady. We have Javier and Queen Alicia, both of whom have a deep trust and even respect for our resident Weird Man. Javier has been by his side constantly, watching him change and grow, has seen past his facades, pledging to lay down his life for him, and even learned to take a page from his book. Alicia intuitively understands him better than anyone else, is eager to see him thriving, owes him her life several times over, and is totally DTF. We are set. Also Relatively Normal Lady Siluria is there in the background (but she could be much more)

Also, Javier learned to do a Lloyd!! I’m so proud of my boy! And even as he’s doing it, he’s doing it with a base of absolute sincerity. Truly taking after his Lord in every way, from how they villainously spared people’s lives, extracted compensation from the wealthy, and improved people’s living conditions…in the end, even while acting villainous, all Javier really did was…ask the Heavens to not undo all their hard work and help save the life of his closest friend. He just did it without groveling and owing them a favor.

The same way that, in the end, Lloyd ended up saving a lot of people, even setting them on a better course in life, all while saying “this doesn’t make me a hero, because I only did it for selfish reasons.” Aaaand those reasons are (checks notes) living a life of peace, comfort, and happiness, surrounded by his thriving loved ones in a beautiful city that he personally helped to flourish. He didn’t even imagine fucking off to travel the world or anything! In his wildest fantasies he’s still managing a few things here and there! Javier was right, he has a poor man’s vision of being rich.

Honey…you talk big about aspiring to be a “rich bum” but you don’t even realize how quaint of a dream that really is…work until you save up enough for retirement is. Like. Normal. That’s just a normal thing to do. So what if you want to retire early? You don’t need to work ‘til you’re dead. You’re a nobleman in a feudal society. Not to mention, by this point (ch 167 of the webcomic) you’re put yourself through enough that you more than deserve it. Literally no one (except the Queen and perhaps Javier) would raise a single complaint about it. They’d just give you their well-wishes, saying “makes sense. He’s already done 100 years of work within 10. Lord Lloyd has done enough for us already. We’ll handle things from here.” (Though, at this point, I feel like Javier would appreciate the idea of Lloyd not facing any more life-threatening dangers, he would also be suspicious that Lloyd would end up getting himself into trouble anyway)

It’s just…god…self-sacrificing protagonists who convince themselves that they’re a fundamentally bad person for Wanting Things and handling their affairs in underhanded ways really get to me, especially when their first instinct is to be underhanded precisely because they were burned when they tried to be upright before.

And then the scene with the Jewel of Truth oooohhhhjjjkkh

He received a vision of doom from one of endings, heard from the legendary Dragon King (who apparently knows more about the world then anyone could have guessed) that this things would have his answer, LITERALLY went to Hell and back just to obtain the pieces to BUILD the damn thing, has to fight a whole-ass Angel just to finish it, and when, at long last, it’s completed, what does it say??

“Either you or your best friend have to die. No other way.”

God. It might as well have said “kys lmao”. I can see why he went into shock. All that, and he wasn’t even looking to be done and over with it, he was just looking for a way forward, something he could actually do, anything! And that bastard hunk of rock said “the way forward does not exist.” Just. God. Makes me kind of angry just thinking about it. The fact that THAT was the result of ALL of that effort. The moment Javier hears what that damn rock said it is going to be smashed to smithereens.

‘Cause he’ll make the connection. You know he will. He’s smart enough for that. He’ll hear what the damn rock said and go “ah. So Master Lloyd was preparing to resign himself to death.” And after he smashes the rock he is going to be ROYALLY pissed that Suho would even THINK about harming himself.

And then they’re probably gonna have to stop Javier from making good on his promise to lay down his life for that guy…ugh…they care about each other…

I saw that look of panic when Lloyd thought Javier had vanished for a split second, and we just saw how Javier will take matters (even outside of fights) into his own hands if it means protecting Lloyd. They just…they’re the only ones they can show their true faces to. Javier can be both sharp-tongued and sincere, Lloyd can be both scheming and sincere…heck, not even Queen Alicia has had the chance to see Lloyd actually cry. They care so much…

…to be honest I wanna see one of the “bad endings” be Javier (and Alicia) absolutely fucking shit up because someone killed Lloyd…like…do you know how much you mean to them???

(At least it looks like he’s starting to understand)

Ooohhh I have so many Thoughts and Feelings…

[bengiyo]

La Pluie Deserves a Standing Ovation

I hope y’all didn’t think I’d forgotten about this show after the finale. I was just traveling and have been too busy to write this final review.

La Pluie has been one of the most enjoyable experiences I’ve had as a viewer of TV ever. This show told us exactly what it was from the very opening scenes, and then spent the entire show paying that off. This show opened with an explanation about soulmates, and then immediately countered that with Tai’s parents’ divorce, the note that the pairing of people is ultra-rare, and a happy couple that wasn’t a soulmate pair in a café. Throughout the show it repeatedly stressed that love is about how we treat each other and not something you win via a lottery. It’s so rare these days that we get a show that trusts their audience this much to follow the thread and think about the big ideas along the way.

Doubt and Faith in Acts

One of my favorite things I observed in the show is that only Patts and Tien consistently make the kinds of choices that lead to long-term love without getting their asses handed to them. @shortpplfedup observed during her catch up that this story featured four different kinds of believers: an apostate, an agnostic, a believer, and an atheist. It’s notable that the apostate (Tai) and the atheist (Lomfon) are the ones causing the most harm to other people in the way they treat others.

Throughout the show, both Tai and Lomfon keep making standoffish choices. Tai has cut off his mom and avoids his coworkers. Lomfon is rude and standoffish. Neither of them is able to hold on to their loves because they are incapable of letting go of their own bullshit.

Conversely, Tien goes out of his way to take care of his brother, his family, and eventually Lomfon. I actually liked that Tai and Lomfon had to make opposite choices in the finale. Lomfon needed to show in his actions that he was serious about Tien, whereas Tai needed to show in his words that he was actually listening to what Patts had been asking for.

For Patts, he doesn’t believe that he and Saengtai are meant to be together because they’re connected by the rain. He does the work of caring for Tai because he is kind. He loves Tai because he’s Tai and not because he’s his soulmate. Patts stays present for Tai. He respects his boundaries. He tries to help Tai deal with his problems. He trusts him.

The Ambiguity

As a lapsed Catholic, I gotta say that I really love the way this show ended without fixing all of the soulmate stuff and giving concrete answers. I like that the show holds firm to its conviction that love is not ordained by the narrative; it is something built by people doing the work to be together. I love how this show challenged the notion of the narrative itself mandating the characters be together and instead reminded them (and us) to be present for our loved ones and to listen to their needs.

I think this show would have been weaker if Tai and Patts had restored their rain connection at the end. Besides, I think it gives them room to play with that idea if they get a second season. I also liked that Tien started hearing someone at the end of the season. He is a believer in soulmates, and I think it’ll be interesting to see someone as earnest as him face that challenge.

Releasing the Tension

Before I get to wrapping up, I want to reiterate again that this show has two plot-relevant blowjobs in it. So often these shows tease us and then don’t release the tension. Worse, when they do release the tension it doesn’t always feel like it’s something the characters lean into with their new dynamic.

After episode 5 ended, @ginnymoonbeam teased me for having a moment of panic that maybe I was misreading the show and that somehow Patts wasn’t into Saengtai because of how often I’ve been tricked or teased. Instead, these two end up making out on the floor and Patts was going to blow that man. Then, we don’t cut away from them. We watch them talk about what happened and why Tai is holding back.

Going further, they let Patts and Tai find peace and closure with Nara. Moreover, they treat Nara’s heartbreak seriously. She isn’t ejected from the group, and is allowed to be disappointed and sad about the loss. At the end of the show, they also confirm our suspicions about her and Dream.

It’s just incredible to have watched a show that didn’t rely on teasing us and instead treated the sex and intimacy seriously.

Thank You To Everyone Who Watched La Pluie

I cannot overstate how much joy I got from watching this show along with all of you. When @lurkingshan and I began writing earnestly around episode 4 in the hopes that more people would join us on this show, I did not expect so many of you to actually give it a try.

I think, if you have held off on watching this show because you’ve been waiting for confirmation about one plot point or another, just watch it if you’re still on the fence. When you do watch it, try to let go of what you think is supposed to happen or what you want to happen, and instead respond to what the show is giving you. This has been the most legible show at this caliber I’ve experienced since I Told Sunset About You (2020).

At no point did this show try to trick us about anything, and it trusts us to keep up and engage. This show is better when you lean in. It’s better when you discuss it with others. For a show so much about questioning belief, it is amazing how much this show rewards you for believing in it. I don’t know a better show this year.

I have a lot of folks I want to acknowledge here at the end, including but not limited to:

I want to thank @wanderlust-in-my-soul, @pharawee, and @liyazaki for letting me use their gifs in my posts.

I want to thank @lurkingshan and @ginnymoonbeam for being first through the door with me and committing to getting more folks to watch this show.

I want to thank @respectthepetty and @absolutebl for regularly sticking it out for shows and giving them an earnest watch through their lenses.

I want thank everyone else who contributed incredibly thoughtful writing to this experience, including @shortpplfedup, @syrena-del-mar, @neuroticbookworm, @wen-kexing-apologist, @chickenstrangers, @recentadultburnout, @williamrikers, @heretherebedork, @shouldiusemyname, @sunshinechay, @fadelikeclouds, @slayerkitty, @chinzhilla, @indigostarfire, @iguessitsjustme and @rocketturtle4

See you all in the next show!

[ginger-snap-talkin-nonsense]

Heathers: The Musical

Beautiful

The opening of this number leaves something to be desired at first, with Veronica’s

pleas to return to the simpler time of kindergarten ringing closer to the girl from Mean Girls who doesn’t even go here than it does to the well meaning yet jaded protagonist we’re given here. However, that doesn’t last long. As Veronica waxes poetic through the high school halls we get a very interesting look at all the students cliquish together mock on another. The insults are harsh yet childish (shortbus, homo, slut, etc.) and we see Veronica herself not immune to these musings. Despite claiming she wants things to be better the first thing she says in regards to Ram and Kurt are that they’re assholes and idiots and her first remarks about the Heathers are judgy claims about the three of them. Veronica sees these people as human as they see her.

This isn’t subtext either, the first real glimmer that the creators have a strong vision come in the use of the Greek Chorus, wherein every kid who was previously hurling insults reveals confusion and guilt over their own actions. Even Kurt and Ram, the jock boys who later be killed by JD for attempting to coerce Veronica into sex while they’re drunk both exclaim regret of their actions (“Why do I act like such a creep?” “Why did I hit him?” “Why do I cry myself to sleep?”)

This leads into the introduction of the Heathers themselves-three girls regarded as both perfect and universally adored and universally despised. Described as ‘Solid Teflon’. But then we actually get their first lines…in the school bathroom…where one of them is engaging in bulimia. The other two Heathers actively discourage Duke from this but she obviously has body issues (as she is the one whose “mom paid for implants”, after all). To which the school guidance counselor walks in on them and-instead of treating this situation with the respect it deserves-rolls her eyes and attempts to give them detention for being out of class.

This is very significant as the pervasive theme of Heathers is that none of these kids are being the support to be better people, so how could they be better people? This woman’s job is to be on alert for kids going through something, but it will literally take the faked suicide of Heather Chandler for her to perform even a falsity of that job. It’s Veronica who shows the Heathers unbound kindness by forging a hall pass for them and getting them out of trouble.

To which Chandler is immediately suspicious because the other theme is

“When no one is nice to you without wanting something for long enough it messes with your perception of healthy relationships”.

Veronica then does ask for a favor in return for her help-being given a metaphoric thumbs up by the trip so she’ll keep from being harassed. Of course, the girls do her one better and Veronica becomes the fourth member of the Heathers.

Veronica herself is well characterized by the end of this. She’s kind even if that kindness comes with hesitancy, she loves her friend Martha, and despite her Daria-esque attitude to the people around her manages to be proactive right at the start as we see her actively tell one of the jocks she’s a afraid of to apologize to her friend when he attacks her. But she’s also easily swayed. Despite thinking they’re terrible people and thinking the concept of the school hierarchy is stupid, when given the opportunity to be at the top of the hierarchy with the Heathers she accepts with no hesitation. Her mantra going from the beginning of the song “We could be beautiful, just not today…” to the more selfish “And when you’re beautiful, it’s a beautiful day”.

It’s got some fun lyricism and some classic foreshadowing wordplay, I’m particularly fond of the line “Fight the urge to strike a match and set this dump ablaze” as it draws an early line between Veronica’s emotional in the moment thoughts and the more intense tangible desires of JD being twisted by those thoughts.

All in all this is a solid opening number to this musical. Let’s see how they follow through with the introduction of the plot and the introduction of JD.

[stupidseeker]

Been following you for a while now, and I love your art. Mind enlightening me on why you ship Starscream and Ratchet? They're so cute in your art, and I want in on it. 🫣👉👈

I’m so sorry I didn’t see this sooner! And thank you!!

I ship them because they remind me of my own relationship. But, as characters in the show, they have a very interesting dynamic; I feel like Starscream and Ratchet both share fairly pessimistic views underneath it all, with which I feel they would bond over. Ratchet strikes me as someone who could have darker humor at times born of realism and the ravages of war, and although Starscream perpetrates that through his own actions in the Decepticons, is in essence doing his job. Said dark humor and cynicism is most likely frowned upon by the other Autobots—perhaps particularly by Optimus, Ratchet’s otherwise closest friend.

I think it would have been very interesting as a season 2 plot line to have had Starscream successfully defect (even if temporarily) to the Autobots like he wanted. I think I mainly got attached to the pairing when “Partners” aired, and then subsequently when Starscream called upon Ratchet twice for repairs— Ratchet then fulfilling his duty of care to arguably one of the “least deserving” people of his species. I think Ratchet’s calm, respectful, and at times a little crude demeanor would draw Starscream in, and soften the seeker. Ratchet always struck me as a mech of his word sort of person, and would be nothing short of professional and reliable within reason even with someone as “awful” as Starscream— pointedly responding to the seeker’s barbs in a clever way and not exclusively at Starscream’s expense would probably grow on the seeker over time.

If anything, I think they would make surprisingly beneficial friends— each encouraging one another’s growth and open-mindedness over time working alongside one another. I think it would even have been funny if Ratchet mentored the seeker in medicine to give him some sort of purpose and grow his empathetic qualities since Starscream typically has very little if any most of the show. Ratchet and Starscream both have pretty distinct personalities, and for the most part “know” who they think they are. Ratchet is stubborn, but old and wise, and I think he would have been able to peel away Starscream’s facades— even if harshly— purely to make Starscream a person more true to himself— no matter what that ended up being. Starscream could make the reverse also true, earning the medic’s respect through competency in his tasks, strategies, and making good on his defection. They’re both hardheaded, independent, and closed off in terms of intimacy as well. I could also see Ratchet having a field day refreshing his knowledge of flight frames while working on the seeker.

The pairing has so much potential. I wish Transformers Prime had explored them both a lot more, whether together or apart. Together, preferably. 😏 Their banter would have been stellar.

[bitter-sweet-coffee]

kinda annoying tbh that theres not a lot that people do to show good sides of wave and storms relationship unless they're trying to ship them. got any headcanons or tidbits about how those two interact with eachother?

i have SO MANY, but i’ll list some of the more compelling ones :3 i love these too in like a “we’re so different on an ideological level, but we both love jet SO MUCH so we have to work together” notion.

- since storm is gifted in the culinary arts, he knows wave’s weakness: cacio e pepe. ONLY WHEN HE MAKES IT THOUGH. so if he ever needs to bribe her or get her to not have a stick up her ass, he says he’ll make it and she begrudgingly cooperates.

- similarly, when wave goes hermitmode in her workshop, no matter how insane she is, he will always bring her a bowl of fresh fruit. she has to eat it

- there’s a common misconception that storm is stupid, and an even futher misconception that he’s the immature one. wave can actually be extremely petty and uncooperative at times, but storm makes a point of bridging their differences. he’s patient and tries to understand her as best he can when they’re dealing with a situation and wave has gotten better with her patience

- they are both into music from completely different angles. wave is an “i learned on my dad’s kit” percussionist who would play along to records and can’t read sheetmusic well, whiplash style. storm is a composer who score studies and conducts, spending so much of his time perfecting and studying. this is one of those scenarios where wave actually has to listen to storm if she’s filling in on kit for his ensemble. yeah, percussionists are usually the timekeepers, but with a conductor the hierarchy gains another level. wave does get frustrated, but moreso with herself as she tries to play how he needs her to play

- in my lore, wave went rogue from the rogues for a few years, unbeknownst to jet. she was present during the day, but would sneak out at night for some diabolical shit and it was always storm waiting up for her with tea to make sure she came back. this is actually why in interpret her to be so jaded when it comes to storm: a sense of guilt or embarrassment. storm worrying over her makes her react negatively as it feels belittling, and reminds her that what she was doing was bad. he is a constant reminder of everything she once was, stuff she tries to forget, and she HATES how he looks at her sometimes because he remembers and he worries about her and a part of her doesn’t feel like she deserves it. sorry, did i say these would be fun? NO! SUFFERING!

- storm is very good at reading wave to filth, but he does it wholesomely and casually, and she can’t even be mad. example:

wave: i have to fix the transmission on my jetta

storm: right, because instead of staying in the passing lane, you weave in and out of traffic to save yourself 0 minutee in travel time instead of being patient and letting people merge

wave: … (“: hah. well, i mean…

storm: mhm. :”)

another example, for shits and giggles:

like, come on! storm is less aggressive than schlatt, but you can’t tell me they don’t go at it like this because they totally do.

- FINAL ONE TO MAKE THIS A TRAUMA SANDWICH THAT ENDS NICELY: storm’s birthday is october 19th, whereas wave’s is november 11th. they’re hardly a year apart in age yet there’s a boomer esque joke of storm being soooo much older than her and she needs to respect her elders. it’s either that storm is too old to get something, or wave is too young to remember the good old days. no one else finds this funny or even gets the joke, so it’s a bit they share sarcastically with one another. on that note, i think it’s pretty clear they’re always sarcastically egging each other on, but no one else picks up on it lmao

[gloriousburden]

Hey, you don't have to apologize at all! <3 We all have our lives. Also, it is up to you to decide when you wish to answer or if you wish to answer some asks at all! This is supposed to be your space, so def take all the time you need!

I'm happy that I helped you put some thoughts into words, too! And like always, I agree w all you say!! Also, for the Sylvie shapeshifting part — there's a post on it (if I find it I'll send it to you), and sadly, it is true. I didn't connect the dots before, but now it makes further sense with how they use her character, too. It is stated multiple times in the series by Mobius, and in general they kept highlighting the fact that she's a female counterpart. I shouldn't be surprised, but I always am in the end 😔

And another point you made — for Ragnarok, I saw your rb and. Man. When I tell you my jaw DROPPED at that scene — like ... It's awful. I hope that we won't have that one day, even if that feels far away. None of you deserve this. Putting such lines is very harmful, because (other than the fact that it's just straight up disrespectful, racist and ignorant) while the film itself is fictional, it still has influence in real life and people could take that and think it would be fine, to belittle and mock others. I've learned about your culture and am still learning, and with everything that has transpired, things like this make everything worse. It's so widespread, too, the misinformation. Of course, the best weapon to this is to be respectful, open, informed, and curious about everything, but still, such lines should not be accepted at all. You have already stated it very well. Thank you for that.

Sorry you had to see that, Thor would never. Bruce either, that cannot be Bruce, I revoke him ... Oh, and I'm definitely up for listening to your points on this. I'm very curious about it. I'd also love to learn more about your culture!

(Including your other ask here as well)

Hey! I checked out a few of her posts about it. Is this it? [Link]

In all honesty, I’m not too sure about the shape-shifting thing. But… I assume her being able to shape-shift as well as the enchanting stuff would’ve made her too “OP” (not that they really care about that) and not “distinctive” enough from Loki lol. As for her being strictly female and not fluid… man, I don’t know. I guess they wanted to focus on female rep (which they’re not really good at either) instead. They already see Loki as male, so they treated both of them as only being female/male with the ‘Sex:Fluid’ thing being an afterthought to “please” fans. Basically:

‘OKAY SHUT UP YOU’VE GOT IT! WE THREW IN A FILE SAYING HIS SEX IS FLUID DURING THE CREDITS, BUT HE IS SHOCKED WHEN A FEMALE VARIATION OF HIM SHOWS UP! Uh… it totally wasn’t an afterthought or anything, haha…”

🤦🏻‍♀️ so stupid.

Female counterpart… the writing and handling of Sylvie being female felt misogynistic to me. Okay so Loki cannot call her out on her own flaws (because how dare a female character have flaws), but also she’s automatically stronger and is so “badass”, but also she has no depth and there was little thought put into her backstory. I can straight up say that as a female that I do not want to see robotic female characters with absolutely no depth, and no flaws! Instead of them correcting the misogynistic mistakes they’ve made in the past with making a strong female character, they make her robot like because I guess that’s easier than giving a female character depth.

I feel like a good example of a well written female character is Mikasa from Attack on Titan. She is strong, but also has depth. She loves Eren, but has a personality and motives outside of that. She has weaknesses, and is not immune to struggling. She’s one of my favorite female characters, and I think more should be written like her. Anime/Manga are notoriously BAD at handling female characters, but in Attack on Titan (though there are still flaws of course), they feel real. They aren’t just there for fan service, or just to shut up female audiences with no actual care put into any part of it.

Lol sorry I deleted the RB Because I felt no one saw it, but thank you so much for reading it!

[Link] for context.

I really do appreciate you taking the time to learn about my people, and our culture. Thank you for seeing us for who we are, outside of all the hatred. It truly does mean a lot, as I’ve been discriminated against throughout my life.

I also want to point out that the joke isn’t JUST beyond disrespectful to my OWN culture, but it is disrespectful to any other culture that’s cultural clothing includes headscarves. So many people who proudly wear their headscarves (and any other cultural clothing for that matter) are targeted in hate crimes and It’s just really gross to me that they chose to mock them. It fuels hatred and ignorance. It alienates people.

A lot of people when talking about anti Roma racism mainly talk about the G word (Gypsy), but there are more important things to me than that. Like the fact that Roma children are ethnically targeted in hate crimes by non Roma ADULTS and AUTHORITY FIGURES throughout Europe, but primarily in the Balkans where a lot of us reside/have ties to.

Politicians openly spew hatred against us, with little to no repercussions. They want my people to assimilate, but when they attempt to, they are mocked and just overall treated like garbage. There’s no winning. They want them to strip themselves of our culture. Of our traditions.

I will not get into it on here a whole lot as it is absolutely vile, but my people were targeted during the Holocaust and experimented on in horrific ways. How were they targeted? Nazi scientists studied our features, and how we dressed.

That’s why jokes about how we look or how we present ourselves really are not funny. It reflects real life.

I believe I said this in so many words on the OG post, but the weirdest part to me of all of it is how little sense it makes for Bruce to make that joke to Thor. Like it was just Mark Ruffalo going out of his way to be hateful towards us once again. Thor doesn’t pay much mind to the joke if you watch the scene.

It’s funny because Thor (after his banishment), has almost always been respectful towards other groups of people from what I can remember at the top of my head.

He was respectful towards humans when he was casted out to Midgard, and he CLEARLY tolerates them to a certain extent if he’s willingly in a relationship with one, as well as willingly associate with them (The Avengers.)

‘You can’t kill an entire race..’

‘You think yourself above them?’

Thor is supposed to be open minded for an Asgardian, so.. this really was just Mark Ruffalo and his racism again. And I know he portrays himself as being aware of and deeply caring about social issues, but I guess that awareness and care excludes Roma. That’s what makes it worse. What also makes it worse is the MCU’s history of racism against us. A lot of people have talked about this on here, but the white washing of MCU Wanda/Pietro. As well as Joss Whedon’s racism towards us.

Thank you for the ask! Once again, feel more than welcome to send another any time 😁

[jmagnabo92]

Jilypadweek2024 - Day 2 - Lacey Birthdays

@jilypadweek

Prompt: Someone's Birthday

James tries to overdo it for Sirius' first birthday with the three of them as a throuple, but Lily has a better idea for what Sirius would like.

AO3

***

“Don’t you think you’re going a little overboard?” Lily teases as she watches James decorate the house for Sirius’ birthday. 

It’s not that he doesn’t deserve decorations or their efforts into making it great… it’s that Sirius doesn’t always like when they do special things for him.  He would rather not have a party and just have the two of them wrap themselves up like presents and let him get all the loving attention, but that’s never been James’ style. 

James likes to shower his lovers by having big parties and celebrating them for days on end.  It usually takes quite a bit of effort to convince him that it’s unnecessary. 

“It’s an important birthday, Lils,” James says, not bothering to even look at her, focusing on his task at hand.

“Yes, but you know that our boyfriend isn’t into birthdays.  After all, you’ve been his best mate for a decade before we got together.”

“Yes, but it’s our first birthday with him as a throuple – the first year of holidays is important to celebrate.  It sets the tone for our entire relationship,” James counters.

“Okay, so you want to set the tone that you’re not wanting to respect his wishes?” Lily questions.  “When he’d much rather that we just set up the bedroom in a romantic way and then put on sexy outfits and lay out all seductively?”

James huffs and finally turns to look at her.  “Oh Merlin.”

Lily grins.  She was wearing the outfit that she planned to wear for Sirius’ birthday as a present and she knows that Sirius isn’t the only one that would find the outfit sexually pleasing.  

Judging by James’ reaction and the way that he rakes his eyes over her form, she’s right about it being a good present. 

“Maybe it’s not too late to cancel the party?” James asks, as if finally realizing that she’s right (of course she is). 

“Only if you let me find you a complementary outfit to mine as the present,” Lily states, grinning.  “I really really want to dress you up and then you’ll know what to wear for my birthday.”

James groans.  “Do we have time for a quickie before we do just that?”

“No, you’re just going to have to save all that horny for our boyfriend like a good boy.”

“Fine.”

***

Sirius knew about the party, he also knew that he could get Lily to try and convince James to forgo his surprise birthday party with friends for a private party for the three of them, and his girlfriend did just that. 

Now, he’s headed into their bedroom (sure, sure, it’s too ‘soon’ to live together, but frankly, Lily’s place is better than his or James’ flats, and they all are a little too attached to spend too much time apart), and he knows that there’s a delicious surprise waiting for him. 

Sure enough, he enters the room and there’s soft music floating through the air, rose petals on the floor, candles around the room and his two favorite people laying on the bed seductively. 

They’re both in red lace.  Lily’s wearing a two-piece bra and panty-set with red stockings and lace around her thighs, while James is wearing a red-mesh top that connects to red-mesh tight-short-shorts that hug his arse and cock and leaves nothing to the imagination. 

They’ve both got on confident smiles and James says, “Oh, there you are, love.  We were beginning to wonder if you’d gotten lost.”

Sirius laughs.  “Well, if I’m lost, I’m happy to find this place here.”

“Come join us, birthday boy, we’ve got plans for you,” Lily says, tapping the middle of the bed.

“Gladly.”

And that leads to his favorite birthday present ever.